Rails & Ties
| Rails & Ties | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Alison Eastwood |
| Produced by |
Robert Lorenz Peer Oppenheimer Barrett Stuart |
| Written by | Micky Levy |
| Starring |
Kevin Bacon Marcia Gay Harden Miles Heizer Eugene Byrd Brian Bogulski Bonnie Root |
| Music by |
Kyle Eastwood Michael Stevens |
| Cinematography | Tom Stern |
| Editing by | Gary Roach |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
| Release dates |
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| Running time | 96 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $22,136[1] |
Rails & Ties is a 2007 drama film directed by Alison Eastwood and written by Micky Levy. It tells of a young boy and his mentally ill widowed mother who commits suicide in her car by parking on a railroad track. The boy confronts the train engineer who accidentally killed his mother, urging him and his wife to raise him after escaping from an unkind foster mother. The two agree to raise him, however, it is later revealed that his wife is dying of breast cancer. Kevin Bacon portrays the train engineer, Marcia Gay Harden plays his medically ill wife, and Miles Heizer portrays the boy.
Plot
Laura Danner is a mentally ill, single mother who takes illegal drugs and is unable to care for her 10-year-old son Davey. Driven to despair, she decides to commit suicide by driving a car on to a railway track, taking Davey with her. She even offers him some tablets beforehand to subdue him though, unbeknownst to her, he spits them out. But as his mother drives on to the tracks with the oncoming Blue Coastal passenger train approaching, he tries to drag her out of the car. Unable to do so, he himself manages to jump clear before the train hits the car. Two train crewmen, Tom Stark and Otis Higgs, see the car on the tracks ahead but cannot agree about the best course of action. The latter thinks they should make an emergency stop, but the former thinks that will derail the train, therefore endangering the hundreds of passengers on board. The train subsequently hits and kills the boy's mother. In the aftermath of a pending investigation, the railroad company calls for an internal inquiry and the two drivers are suspended.
Davey has spent the first night after the incident with an empathetic social worker, Susan Garcia. However, she places the boy with an cold-hearted, disciplinarian foster mother. For example, the foster mother becomes amused after providing him with clothes that do not fit. Later on, after being confined to his room, he shatters the glass window to escape, leaving blood stains on his clothes. The authorities are alerted and a missing persons search begins. The boy retrieves ahold of train conductor Tom Stark's home address from another conductor. He turns up at the Stark's home just as Tom's wife Megan is about to leave on her own to San Francisco. The boy attacks Tom for accidentally killing his mother in the train crash but eventually is placated. Rather than leave, the boy persuades Megan to care for him like a mother, much to the disapproval of Tom. Gradually the couple rebond with each other by opening their hearts to the boy who needs the security of a devoted family.
Meanwhile, Megan is suffering with breast cancer. Having already undergone a mastectomy, she has decided that she will no longer endure chemotherapy and must accept her inevitable death. The couple had no children in the past, partly due to the history of Megan's illness and Tom's job as a train driver. As a taciturn man, Tom is unable to deal with his wife's illness and implores her to continue treatment. Meeting with the train conductor, the social worker hears that the boy may have sought out the home of Stark. Susan arrives at the house suspecting the boy may be there. She even searches the house, but is then faced with the presence of a visibly sick Megan Stark. The family bonding continues, but the social worker keeps an eye on the family—her suspicions confirmed when she sees them out in the park for a picnic. She initially phones the police, but stops doing so when she realizes that the boy is clearly part of a devoted family.
Megan's illness deteriorates and Davey discovers that she is indeed dying. He has a fit, blaming himself not only for Megan's death but also for the suicide of his own mother. Tom Stark placates the boy, reasuring him that it is not his fault. Then, a few hours prior to her death, Megan sobs in bed while telling a saddened Davey how much she loves him. The following night, she dies in her sleep. Some time after the funeral, Tom informs Davey that it is perhaps now time to contact the social worker to see if he can adopt him. The film ends with Tom and Davey approaching hand-in-hand the offices of the social worker.
Cast
- Kevin Bacon as Tom Stark
- Marcia Gay Harden as Megan Stark
- Miles Heizer as Davey Danner
- Marin Hinkle as Renee
- Eugene Byrd as Otis Higgs
- Bonnie Root as Laura Danner
- Steve Eastin as N.B. Garcia
- Laura Cerón as Susan Garcia
- Margo Martindale as Judy Neasy
- Kathryn Joosten as Mrs. Brown