Amy Adler Megan (Marcia Gay Harden) is fighting a third occurrence of breast cancer. As a nurse, her life has been fulfilling but, lately, she is struggling. Realizing that she may not whip the deadly disease again, she is longing to take short vacations and make the most of her time. She especially regrets that she and her husband, Tom (Kevin Bacon) never had children. As for Tom, he is quiet and has trouble with communication. Most days, he goes straight from his job as a railroad engineer, when the work day is done, to the garage where his elaborate miniature train set runs. Therefore, he is not showing strong visible support for Megan's condition. The two of them, however, are about to receive a significant jolt. One day, a suicidal, mentally ill mother places her car on a railroad track, wanting to end her life. Her elementary aged son, Davey, who has been ordered out of the car, knows what's coming but can't stop her. Sure enough, the train that Tom is running strikes the car, for the engineer couldn't stop in time without a serious derailment. Davey is placed in foster care. What the authorities don't count on is that Davey is very smart, runs away from the foster family and makes a beeline to Tom's, for the lad has discovered who was in charge of the train on the day of the accident. After some shouting and crying, Megan and Tom keep the boy with them, hoping to get him into a better state of mind. One day turns into two, then three, then more. Its just what Megan needs, a child to love and a diversion from her problems. Its also good for Tom, who needs to learn how to "open up". Will they become a family? This is a touching story, replete with serious topics like suicide, cancer, childlessness, depression and losing a parent. As such, although it is quite somber, the movie has the ability to help viewers with similar issues. Harden and Bacon deliver strong performances and the other cast members do good work, too. Settings, costumes, script and direction are well done also. Do you like tear-generating films or are you and anyone you love struggling with cancer or loss of a relative? Getting this film might prove instrumental in confronting these matters.

LeroyBrown-2 I know very little of this movie until I saw it. All I know is that it's about a railroad engineer and his wife who's suffering from cancer. There's another element in the movie that I didn't know about until I saw the movie and it's about a young boy who has a troubled mother. Somehow the lives of the couple and the young boy would intersect literally and tragically. All this sounds like a melodrama from the 1930s. And in many ways it is, but it also has a brutal frankness in it that the 1930s movies didn't have. The movie stars Kevin Bacon as the train engineer and his wife played by Marcia Gay Harden, we could see that there's a riff in their marriage. He would much rather work than spend time with his wife even though his boss is telling him he could have some time off. She doesn't understand why he's being so distant. It's obvious he's burying himself in work as she faces a dire future. This part of the movie is very frank as we see the despondency both have. The other element in the movie is the boy played by Miles Heizer. He has a troubled mother, it's obvious he has become the adult in the relationship. He enters the engineer's world angrily and he blamed the engineer for the death of his mother. The engineer's wife would take pity on him and soon he finds himself staying with them. Somehow the tragedy that took the boy's mother would bring something that the boy has never had and the couple thought they lost. It's really a simple melodrama but it has a frankness in it that they would never consider in the 1930s. One unforgettable scene is when she looked at herself in the mirror and see the scar cancer has left and breaks down, while he was on the other side of the door not knowing what to do. During one argument he blurts out angrily "Because You had cancer", it sounds as if he were angry at her. Obviously he's angry at the disease for what it has taken away from him, the possibility of children and now his wife. Also when the boy was crying out blaming himself for the death of those he love. It's very honest and frank how children sometime blame themselves for things they do not understand.Credit and blame goes to both the writer Mickey Levy and director Allison Eastwood created a group of characters who are very complex and are facing difficult situations but then it spirals into sentimentality. The story of the engineer and his wife by itself is powerful then add the story of the boy trying to go on with his life and understand what's going on would make the movie even more powerful but when the two story is combined it became too sentimental. Miss Eastwood's directing style is very similar to that of her father, tell the story in a straightforward way and get out of the way of the actors, The acting is superb, it's obvious that both Mr. Bacon and Miss Harden are very good actors but young Mr. Heizer proves too that he has talent. He's definitely a young talent to keep an eye on. All in all I think it's a good modern melodrama but with the frankness of modern times but then it spiraled into an almost shameless, unabashed treacle.

gradyharp RAILS & TIES, under the guidance of first time director Alison Eastwood, tackles an implausible subject of multiple tragedies resulting in repairing personal breaks and with the able assistance of a groups of excellent actors makes a finely tune, sensitive study of little lives struggling against major odds. It is well conceived, well written (Micky Levy), well acted and sincerely moving.Tom Stark (Kevin Bacon) is a train engineer, married to his job as well as being married to his nurse wife Megan (Marcia Gay Harden) who is facing the ugly fact that her breast cancer is terminal. The cancer has spread beyond Megan's body into the tenuous space that keeps a marriage glued: Megan attempts to hide her desperate need for emotional support by continuing to work as a nurse and Tom takes on extra train runs to avoid the reality that face him at home. The other side of the story is equally sad: young Davey Danner (Miles Heizer) cares of his psychologically shattered mother (Bonnie Root) and unknowingly accompanies her on a jaunt to 'see the train' - a ploy well planned by the suicidal mother to drive in front of an oncoming train to end her life along with Davey's. The conductor of the train is of course Tom Stark, and when Tom first sees the car on the tracks, he keeps to company policy that recommends gradual slowing rather than the danger of an abrupt stop: the result is the death of Davey's mother but Davey escapes the crash while trying to pull his mother from the car. The tragedies mount: Davey is left homeless, being placed in a foster home run by the cruel 'mom' (Margo Martindale) only to escape to find the 'killer' of his mother; Tom is put on leave for the incident; Megan gets the final word that she has very little time left and is ready to leave the distant Tom. It is this inadvertent entrance of Davey into the lives of Tom and Megan that results in a healing of three souls who are desperate for the connection of love. While some my find the story implausible and saccharine, others will appreciate the manner in which Eastwood holds rein on the story, playing it for quiet honesty instead of explosive situations. Both Bacon and Harden deliver the quality of sophisticated performances that have marked their careers, and the remainder of the cast gives strong support - especially Eugene Byrd, Marin Hinkle, Bonnie Root, Margo Martindale, and of course Miles Heizer. This is a tough story to tell but the film holds an indelible mark on the viewer. Grady Harp

Robin Cook I rented this on DVD and am wondering why they took out the Additional Scenes in the movie that are on the Special Features. I was hoping there would be some interviews on the DVD, but alas, had to settle for just the Additional Scenes.This movie has typical Lifetime TV earmarks, but with a lot more to give. I was especially impressed with Miles Heizer in his role of the young boy. It is a good story that gives both character insight angles of the victim and the accidental killer. I applaud the casting done here. Kevin Bacon's role was perhaps the best choice to play this particularly difficult part, and he conveyed/portrayed it very well. I can't think of any other actor who could have pulled it off.The emotional dramas did cause me to pull out some hankies, but they did not dwell on this content in an overdone fashion. I am weary of movies that linger on with many scenes of someone dying in bed of cancer (which was not done at all in a great movie "Who Will Love My Children"), but they kept the IV drip bit scenes to a tolerable minimum. The tears were not associated so much to the cancer bit, but was with how the story was put together ... very, very well done.This young 14-year-old lad, Miles Heizer, is a gem and I really hope to see more of him performing in more films. This movie I recommend when you're in an emotional mood of viewing pleasure. It's definitely worth the rental fee.