A rolling deeply affectionate comedy about friendship and second chances, L'Homme Du Train is a charming, and oddly for a movie featuring a pop star, rather moving. That pop star's name is Johnny Hallyday and he plays a middle aged con called Milan. Wandering into a provincial French town, Milan has plans to rob the local bank. He's befriended by an older man, Monsieur Manesquier (the regal Jean Rochefort), a retired school teacher, who allows Milan to stay with him. Over time, this odd couple - both envious of the other's life, past and future - build up a tentative friendship.
Thanks to the soothing, unhurried mood and the beautifully judged performances, L'Homme Du Train is one of those films which gently coaxes its audience in. Thematically, Leconte seems interested in the parameters of male friendship, but he allows events to unfold with an awkward but strangely sinuous fashion. Of course, creating an atmosphere and coaxing performances like these out of his actors is probably much harder work than it looks, but the marvellous L'Homme Du Train never appears to be anything other than supremely graceful. Marvellous.
