Did ‘The Girl On The Train’ Movie Do The Book Justice?

How The Movie Compared To The Book

It’s safe to say we all find that movies can never compete with their books.

There’s just something about reading the fine details that pulls you deeper into the plot. After reading The Girl On The Train and then seeing the movie I found that this again was true to a certain degree.

The mysterious movie is based on the book wrote by Paula Hawkins. An alcoholic divorcee finds herself in the middle of a missing persons case that will keep the audience on the edge of their seat.

But here’s the thing, the movie was a bit of a disappointment compared to the book. While the book did have a very slow start it picked up to turn into a thriller no reader wanted to put down.

Director Tate Taylor did a relatively good job with his “wanna be” Gone Girl hit. While the setting is hard to portray as it switches back and forth between present day and flashbacks, Taylor got the film pulled together enough to explain to the non-readers what was going on. However, the slow start took away from the climax that came pouring down all of a sudden. Instead of having a nice roller coaster build up the movie went from zero to sixty in two seconds and left viewers with more questions than answers.

Photo: Rotten Tomatoes
Photo: Rotten Tomatoes

Thankfully Taylor had a pretty great cast to work with. Emily Blunt exceeded expectations of playing Rachel Watson, the drunken star of the film. Justin Theroux and Haley Bennett were also big hits playing Tom and Megan Hipwell. However, Laura Prepon as Cathy threw me off. Cathy, the character that is soft and sweet, is the complete opposite of “Hot Donna” or Alex Vause from Orange Is The New Black.

Photo: Rotten Tomatoes
Photo: Rotten Tomatoes

The cast was not the problem with this movie though. I think Taylor and screenwriter Erin Cressida Wilson should have probably took the time to add in more suspense leading up to the grand event. It was too slow-paced turned into thriller too quickly.

So when it comes down to it did the movie compare to the book? That would be a big fat no. I can honestly say I was disappointed in the way this movie portrayed such a good novel, but I might be biased since I do prefer a good book over a film any day.

Since being hitting the big screen on Oct. 6 the film has brought in $46,831,435.00. Not bad, but also not great. Rotten Tomatoes gave the movie a 44% rating, averaging 5.4 out of 10. Audience ratings gave the movie a 56% rating it 3.4 out of 5.

Allison Leslie is a University of South Florida graduate with a bachelors degree in Mass Communications. She joined Genesis in 2016. With a passion for sports, Allison has interned with 620 WDAE, Pewter Report, Trifecta Team: St. Petersburg Bowl, Bullscast, and many other publications. Being a native to the Bay Area, she has followed and supported Tampa Bay teams her whole life.