The Railway Man: A Worthwile Ride

Colin Firth as The Railway Man

Based on an autobiographical novel by World War II veteran Eric Lomax, this painful movie is, in the end, about much more than the ravages of war. To say what that is, however, would give away too much.

Suffice it to say that this is a film with the kind of emotional truism that will touch your heart.

Lomax is a young British soldier, who was captured and tortured by the Japanese, and miraculously lived to tell his story.

He's a railroad nut, at times appearing obsessed with the time tables and routes. And so, it seems natural  that he meets his wife, who'd been an army nurse, on the train. His wife, wonderfully played by Nicole Kidman, is unable to help Eric overcome the emotional scars that threaten to take his life.

His decision to return to the place where he suffered his darkest days brings this powerful movie to its poignant conclusion.