DANGIT ANDREW- a review of "Strangers on a Train" by Sam Hayes

Strangers on a train is a film-noir that does things a little differently. It doesn't follow the trace of the detective trying to unravel the strange and mysterious crime, but instead it follows a suspect in his quest to prove his innocence.
Guy Haines is an up and coming tennis star who boards a train set for his hometown when he bumps into Bruno, a psychologically disturbed man who wants to "try everything" before he dies and often plans out the perfect murder in his head. After talking to Guy a while (who doesn't want anything to do with the man), he decides that they ought to perform this perfect murder as Guy has a cheating, flirty, conniving wife who he has to divorce, and Bruno has a father he is not particularly fond of. Long story short, Bruno kills Guy's wife and puts him in a position where Bruno can say they planned it together, or Guy has to kill Bruno's Father. The rest of the movie becomes a thriller in which Guy must find a way to get out of this predicament without being arrested, and without having to kill Bruno's father.
The movie does a very good job, I believe, of creating tension. It makes you constantly worry about how Guy will get out of the situation while the police are suspicious of him, and Bruno turns against him. Robert Walker does an especially good job of making Bruno truly seem calm yet psychopathic. Altogether it's a good film, although it was devoid of any real mystery or sudden plot twists that the genre seems to do so well.
Strangers on a Train was a teensy bit tedious and some points, but it was pretty well executed otherwise. I give it a 3.75 monogrammed lighters out of 5.