Train Dreams

Joel Edgerton gives a performance that will break your heart, maybe a few times. He is an actor I love. He has this childlike innocence and a kindness which seems to float about him and yet at the same time he has a rugged masculinity; he would be equally at home as a guest on the Wiggles or doing an Old Spice commercial. You might have seen him most recently in Apple's sci-fi series Dark Matter (which I also loved). Train Dreams is about a man, Robert Grainier (Edgerton) who finds himself at the rapidly changing beginning of the 20th century building the railroad. He meets a woman (Felicity Jones) and starts a family but has to leave them for long stints to work. Director Clint Bentley has made a gorgeous film, thick with rain, smoke, blue skies, trees, and flowers - it's a nature buffet. It's also a tale of grief, just as thick with sadness. Like I said, Edgerton will break your heart, maybe a few times. Give him all the nominations for this one. Catch it in theatres if you can. It will be streaming on Netflix. Or go rent it from Movies 'N Stuff. 

Dark Matter

This sci-fi show streaming on Apple+ is a head-scratching, "It's a Wonderful Life", multiverse box of fun. Joel Edgerton (who continues to appear in interesting things) plays Jason, a mild mannered college professor of physics. He is married to Daniela (Jennifer Connelly), the love of his life and they have a teenage son. Jason's life might have turned out quite differently had he chosen work over family. But what if he hadn't? What if he didn't choose love? Maybe he would have gone on to do great things in physics, like building a giant box which could access the multiverse - sort of like time travel, except all these different realities are happening at the same time. And what if this ambitious, workaholic Jason wasn't happy with his life and used his magic box to find the quiet life he always wanted, maybe get rid of his doppelganger and step into a whole new life. This is "Dark Matter." This is a "Twilight Zone"  Tilt-A-Whirl-House-of-Mirrors and you definitely want to take a spin on this amusement ride. When I hit episode eight, I looked at the show like Jason looks at his wife, "I will never stop loving you." Jennifer Connelly, I will watch anything she decides is worthy of her time. Go watch this now. Streaming on Apple+