Highly Overrated But Still Good

The first must-see film of the year.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

David Nicholls' reworking of the David Lean classic shifts the action from wartime Carnforth to contemporary London. Carl Matthews (David Morrissey) and Sally Thorn (Sheridan Smith) have a chance meeting, see each other on a regular basis on the 7.39 morning train from an unspecified suburb to the center of London, and fall in love. Unlike Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson in the earlier film, their love is not restricted to clandestine meetings in a station canteen, but develops into a full-blown affair. Nonetheless the outcome is much the same, as they realize that there is no future for either of them. The story is a familiar one, set against the backdrop of contemporary London - a teeming, high-tech city that alienates many of its citizens. John Alexander's direction vividly captures the heartlessness of contemporary urban life, with shots of a crowded train whose passengers seldom, if ever talk to one another, and interior shots of Carl's office, where the employees are separated from one another by glass screens. No one, it seems, has the time or the inclination to relate to one another. Thus it is perhaps inevitable that Carl and Sally should try to seek an alternative through love. Shot mainly in a series of shot/reverse shot sequences, THE 7.39 is an intense drama focusing on the characters' unspoken feelings: a close-up of Sally's tortured expression as she leaves Carl for the last time tells us far more about her pent-up emotions than dialog ever can. The casting is highly effective: Morrissey towers over Smith, suggesting that the couple are both physiognomically as well as emotionally ill-matched. Nonetheless they take full advantage of the affair while it lasts.

I approached this movie thinking it can't be much --- and I'm glad to state I was wrong.The story is easy to understand --- life can become a rut and then you find yourself stuck in a daily routine. The rewards become transparent and frustration can set in quickly.Here we have two people, Carl & Sally, who come to cross purposes on a commuter train one morning. With an apology later from Carl the ice is broken between our two characters. They both find out through just daily talking that there is a common thread between them. A friendship develops and then more comes into their lives.What's so marvelous about 'The 7:39' is how the relationship progresses and the brilliant ability of the writer and director to keep this old and over told story consistently fresh and lively, start to finish.It's 2 hours long but it's worth the watching !!!

The 7:39 was shown over two nights and is a modern reworking of Brief Encounter which is was itself was re-jigged in 1984 as 'Falling in Love' and starred Robert De Niro and Meryl Streep.David Morrissey and Sheridan Smith meet during an early commute to London where they argue over a seat but in subsequent encounters during the morning rush hour form a friendship and later have a steamy affair.David Morrissey is the middle aged, middle management worker in commercial property with a horrible boss, hating the daily grind of going and coming back from work. He is married to Olivia Coleman, has two teenage children, one about to go to university and finds that for the first time in years he has a buzz and a spring in his step.Sheridan Smith is a personal trainer engaged to get married but unsure as to whether to commit and this affair with an older man seems to provide a pleasant diversion.Of course we have the predictable consequences with Morrissey not performing in his job effectively and getting fired, Coleman finding out about the affair and finally being confronted by Smith's boyfriend.An enjoyable drama, light on its feed, not heavy handed. The work place scenes were so true to life with the actor playing Morrissey's boss nailing the part of the slimy, douche-bag.Just a shame the serial was bit by the numbers.

Just how far have we come in the 60 - odd years since dear Trevor and Celia wanted to do it but didn't?There's certainly very little holding back Miss S.Smith and Mr D.Morrisey from tumbling into bed together in comparatively short order.He is married,she "in a relationship" as the appalling modern term has it,but neither is prepared to step back from the brink although they cannot truly imagine that their escalating affair will go undetected. It truly is a case of "All for love - or The World well lost"for them at least until they take a reality check in a remote seaside cottage and then decide their affair is too hot not to cool down - as Mr Cole Porter had it. "The 7.39" marks the progress from dislike to mild flirtation to full - on intoxication courtesy of Network Rail and at first it seems like it is all good amusing banter,then shared coffee,then,well,you can fill in the rest. Ms Smith's LIL is a possessive gym - bunny with all his brains in his trousers while Mr Morrisey is married to the sublime Miss O.Coleman and has two smart and well -adjusted teenage children(how rare for a TV family). One might think that of the two he had the most to lose,but it is he who does most of the pushing. When their secret comes out Miss Coleman gives him a searing flea in his ear and sends him on his way. All this is complicated by the fact that Miss Smith finds she is pregnant,she assures Mr Morrisey by her LIL. Miss Coleman forgives her erring husband and he is back in the bosom of his family,presumably sadder but wiser. In the last scene we see that Ms Smith,too,has moved on. Absolutely nothing new,nothing edgy,gritty or urban occurs during "The 7.39"but it is well - made,superbly acted and a slice of early 21st century social comment as much as its predecessor was of the early post - war years.