Rails & Ties

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Rails & Ties

PG-13

2007

1h 41m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

34%

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47 Reviews

58%

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10,000+ Ratings

Engineer Tom Stark (Kevin Bacon) kills a suicidal woman when his train slams into her car. Suspended from his job, he must confront his wife Megan's (Marcia Gay Harden) illness finally, but Megan announces she is going to leave him. Unexpectedly, the son (Miles Heizer) of the dead woman, arrives on the couple's doorstep and moves in with them.

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Critics Consensus

Despite the strong cast, Rails & Ties is an emotionally overwrought, not entirely believable melodrama.

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Christy Lemire

Associated Press

01/02/2008

It's hard to get over the implausibility of the premise in Micky Levy's script, even though the characters themselves acknowledge that they're in a ridiculous situation.

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Richard Roeper

Ebert & Roeper

11/12/2007

There's just not much here to recommend at all.

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Ruthe Stein

San Francisco Chronicle

11/09/2007

1/4

One highly unlikely circumstance after another become laughable, preventing you from being moved by the family tragedies depicted. They beg for tears, but a script this chock-full of holes is unlikely to elicit the desired effect.

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Martin Tsai

New York Sun

04/21/2023

Unfortunately, here you get a Lifetime original movie with a bigger budget.

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Kelly Vance

East Bay Express

04/28/2011

In common with her famous actor/filmmaker father, Ms. Eastwood seems to have an instinctual grasp of the petty grievances and triumphs of working-class American life.

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Ryan Cracknell

Movie Views

06/28/2008

Feels so forced and determined to convey a certain emotion that its authenticity is lost. And when there's no sense of authenticity, there's no emotional attachment.

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Stephen C

@bob25009 Jul 23

The worldwide gross is $22,136.00. Rated PG-13 for Brief Nudity, An Accident Scene, Mature Thematic Elements and Momentary Strong Language.

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07/30/2015

A bit depressing and confusing not too bad though

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01/09/2015

To lose one mother may be regarded as a misfortune

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01/06/2014

From the very start of the movie you know exactly where it's going to end up and the journey up to that point isn't really that interesting.

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07/12/2013

One star for the acting.

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06/06/2013

If not for the powerful performances from Bacon and Harden I don't think I would have made it through this. An okay movie with an interesting premise that came together pretty believably considering. Lagged a bit in the middle with the ending leaving it up to you to decide what happened next. 06.13 "Poignant tale of a train engineer who has to deal with a professional tragedy while trying to care for his cancer-stricken wife, faltering marriage and a new and unexpected member of the family."

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Alison Eastwood

Director

Kevin Bacon

Tom Stark

Marcia Gay Harden

Megan Stark

Miles Heizer

Davey Danner

Marin Hinkle

Renee

Eugene Byrd

Otis Higgs

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Synopsis

Engineer Tom Stark (Kevin Bacon) kills a suicidal woman when his train slams into her car. Suspended from his job, he must confront his wife Megan's (Marcia Gay Harden) illness finally, but Megan announces she is going to leave him. Unexpectedly, the son (Miles Heizer) of the dead woman, arrives on the couple's doorstep and moves in with them.

Director: Alison Eastwood
Producer: Robert Lorenz, Peer J. Oppenheimer, Barrett Stuart
Screenwriter: Micky Levy
Distributor: Warner Independent
Production Co: Malpaso Company
Rating: PG-13 (Brief Nudity|An Accident Scene|Mature Thematic Elements|Momentary Strong Language)
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 26, 2007, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 31, 2009
Box Office (Gross USA): $21.4K
Runtime: 1h 41m