Night Train (I) (2023) User Reviews

No Atmosphere, No Plot

[Ckn48 · 4/10 · 27 January 2023]

11 mins in, no atmosphere and no plot, does not bode well.

So a few seconds of speed racing a few seconds of modifying cars, trucks and bikes as part of the business a few seconds of lil boy needing meds Mom trying to buy meds Mom not getting meds because supply chain being shut down Mom offers to drug run so she can get her sons meds for free

there no speed no action no excitement and the plot jumps all over the place without really telling us anything.

Ultimately its a non story & really not worth bothering with Any action it could have had, was either never filmed or cut, leaving a very very boring nothing movie.

The Plot is All Over the Place The Script is mediocre The sound is Atrocious The Photography is mediocre The Acting is mediocre

Not worth bothering 👎

Not quite.

[stylesm · 3/10 · 30 January 2023]

I'm really not quite sure what I've just watched.

I admire the fact that it got made and the production quality looks pretty decent.

All the leads are easy to look at and that just doesn't represent the real world now does it? For some reason the primary female lead is always in the tightest tank top, tightest jeans and huge pumps, probably forcing some character trait down a viewers throat.

The secondary female lead is a mess and not in a PTSD, character flaw way the writer intended. She's supposedly a federal agent who has some issues but there's no depth to her at all on screen - she's just a crack head cop.

And finally this male lead, the criminal drug dealer is pathetically nice and sounds educated, like every drug dealer I imagine.

I haven't written a movie or directed one so this is purely my opinion, which is worth very little.

Could take it or leave it

[chrisj923 · 5/10 · 12 February 2023]

I had a hard time following at first. The two protagonists are both women with long blonde hair and the same build. It took me half an hour to figure out there were two different women in the movie. These are not actors I was familiar with. The storyline was okay, but there wasn't as much action as there could have been. It also seems like they could have developed the characters a little bit more. It was hard to root for someone doing something illegal, but I also didn't find the agent terribly likable or easy to sympathize with. The plot was okay, but the execution was lacking. I think the movie was missing some depth.

Unbelievably bad. No action at all. Don't waste your time.

[TheAzureSky · 28 January 2023]

You see the assault rifle the girl is holding on the poster? She never holds a gun, ever. There is no action. None. I don't think there's even a single gun shot. Even the poster looks like it was generated by an AI.

There's a drag race in the beginning with an opening montage that feels like a Fast and Furious knock off. Then there's a dull off road desert car chase at the end that looks like they were going no more than 15 miles an hour. That's all the action you'll ever get.

There are two plots going on. The A plot has the main character running drugs in her "legendary souped-up pickup truck" (someone actually wrote those words). The B plot is an FBI woman trying to stop the drug flow. The A plot doesn't even happen until 1/3 into the movie. And the two plots don't even intersect until 2/3 into the movie.

The B plot with the FBI woman is so unbelievably bizarre. Her character is supposed to be this tragic alcoholic and the actress actually seems like she's drunk. She must because she knows how absolutely crap this movie is. Her plot painfully cringe to watch.

And let's not forget the main character. An attractive young blonde that's "just one of the boys". Take a shot for every time they bring up how she's a girl.

This is basically a fetish movie for the director. He seems to have a thing for casting blondes in "action movies". If that's your thing, cool, but at least bring the action. The movie does have that "so bad it's good" quality sometimes but it's not worth it.

Rubbish

[skiplewis-49403 · 1/10 · 28 January 2023]

Cringe worthy and unwatchable. I couldn't even finish watching this junk to see the ending. Just really bad acting and a terrible script. There wasn't one part of this movie I found enjoyable. I had low expectations going into it and the movie was even worse than I expected I could barely pay attention and almost fell asleep. Terrible cast and laughable action scenes. Plot is not believable whatsoever. Seems to be the norm for most movies released nowadays . The fact that this was even released is comical. It's a real shame how bad movies have become. I would definitely not recommend watching this movie to anyone . Nails on a chalkboard bad.

Keep the vomit bucket close by...

[deloudelouvain · 2/10 · 13 February 2023]

Sometimes you start watching a movie and it only takes you one minute to know this is not going to be good. Night Train is one of those movies. About everything is bad about it. The plot, if you can call it that, looks like its been written by a fourteen year old fantasizing about fast cars and blond chicks (the dumb kind in this case). The acting is mediocre at best, some are just awful to watch. The worst was Diora Baird, I don't know if it was her dumb unlikable character or just her, probably both. I get it that you have bad writers. I'm just wondering how a bad writer has the luck to find someone that reads this script and thinks he has something golden here. The script is awful, cringeworthy to watch, makes a B-movie look like a Z-movie.

Insanely boring and pointless movie...

[paul_haakonsen · 2/10 · 3 April 2023]

Now, the movie "Night Train" is listed as an action thriller. I have to say that I found it to be neither of those two things. The movie was, for a lack of better words, just downright boring.

The storyline in "Night Train", as written by CJ Walley, was a complete and utter swing and a miss in terms of entertaining me. The narrative in the movie was so insanely slow paced that you could leave the movie running whilst you had to do house chores, then come back and still be up to speed. And the fact that the character gallery had about as much appeal as a carton of spoiled milk, just didn't exactly help to sell the movie.

The acting performances in "Night Train" were stale. Nothing to get the movie up in speed here either. Of the entire cast, then I was only familiar with Abraham Benrubi and Reggie Austin.

If you enjoy a good action thriller, just like I do, then do yourself a favor and don't waste 95 minutes on watching "Night Train". Nay, you just might want to skip out on punching the ticket for this particular train and just let it roll past the train station in the snail pace tempo that it was going forward in.

My rating of "Night Train", from director Shane Stanley, lands on a generous two out of ten stars.

Mis-Mashed Cheese

[afropoppette · 2/10 · 8 July 2023]

Night Train feels like Hallmark trying to break into F&F territory. But, it's kinda awkward.

I think Night Train is a strange mash-up of: F&F, Motocrossed (90s kids, you're welcome - and they could have developed this a lot. Like why is this the one thing she and her dad see eye-to-eye on?), The Cleaning Lady, Will Trent, and Lethal Weapon (I'm sorry, but Riggs but without Murtaugh. You'll see). I enjoy all of those movies or shows individually, but it's like there are small elements of each scattered in this movie that don't quite make sense.

I think I could have liked this movie if there were character and plot development, continuity, etc. It may have better as a series to allow the writers to back up and show us more of the characters' potential. Only because I made it through to the end, I wouldn't mind seeing a much better sequel or prequel.

Movie making and what not to make

[Ken5150k9 · 1/10 · 10 November 2023]

Tried watching this and to be honest, it was painful. The storyline was not bad but the main actress was bouncing around so much I was getting dizzy. How can a character be so busy working and making money that they can't pay their bills. So whoever wrote this needs to research better characters.

As far as racing a motorcycle above the speed limit that your father says to test it, that was a wasted scene.

As for the female officer it was all bulls**t. Her squeaky voice annoyed me. Her lethargic way of conducting her job was ridiculous.

It was a waste of the 30 minutes I invested in this bad movie.

I did like the mechanic. He was the best part of this catastrophe.

Night Mare

[Top_Dawg_Critic · 3/10 · 27 January 2023]

This felt like an amateur-hour Lifetime TV movie/daytime Soap Opera combination, trying to pull off a Fast & Furious film, and clearly fail. Almost every character was written-in to be as annoying as possible - not saying the actors didn't try their best, considering the mess they were given to work with. At least Danielle C. Ryan was bearable and convincing in this role, unlike her character in Double Threat.

For starters, I've never seen an FBI agent be portrayed so sappy, useless, desperate, and as if they would be allowed to carry a gun as and alcoholic with endless bottles of booze always in her hand. Never mind making her character so trampy and desperate. A high school drama class could create better characters, and a story for that matter. Then the two female leads felt like they were competing who had bigger balls, both being unrealistic with their tough-act attitudes. Even some scenes with annoyingly irrelevant and infantile dialogue became cringeworthy quickly.

There were endless plot holes, riddled with unrealistic scenarios - almost as if zero research was done on how things actually are supposed to happen. There were missing parts to many scenes, not sure if the blame falls on the editor or the director, but certainly any decent director should pick-up on at least the obvious inconsistencies (like how may time does the one guy pull back the slide of his gun when it's already chambered the first time around, and never shot). Like I said, amateur-hour, and I should've known better, considering this duo - director Shane Stanley and writer CJ Walley gave us Double Threat, also starring the same two female leads, in another cringeworthy attempt at an action-thriller. I need to remember to stay away from any more of their films

I wouldn't even recommend this as a one-time watch, because it's that sappy and cheesy, and the characters are that annoying. It's a very generous 3/10, for some adequate cinematography and a surprisingly decent score, especially for a B film.

Not bad as you think!

[pedja-the · 5/10 · 27 January 2023]

To be honest I only gave this movie a chance because I taught the main actress (Danielle C. Ryan) was gorgeous, and I was right. The movie starts with a story all over the place and you have no idea who is who, but after a slow and in my opinion, a bad start, they picked up a pace and I'm glad I didn't quit after 30 minutes. Two leading actresses gave very solid performances, also some of the supporting cast also did a reasonable job, which was a bit of a surprise because of the terrible rating this movie has. There are also some very well written dialogues between characters, also another surprise that a B rated movie gets emotional and deeply thought on few occasions. If you expect something spectacular and blockbuster action and effects, well this is not for you, if you lower your expectations and have some free time to spend Night Train isn't that terrible.

Wonderfully ridiculous fun, troubled only by overload and imbalance

[I_Ailurophile · 8/10 · 30 March 2023]

I was a big fan of 2022's 'Double threat,' a hilarious if slightly imbalanced action-comedy romp also starring Danielle C. Ryan, written by CJ Walley, and directed by Shane Stanley. With the same principals attached, and a premise that portends total low-grade bluster, I've been looking forward to this from the moment I first caught wind of it. Considering that after only two scenes and seven minutes I had to pause to collect myself, things are looking up from the very beginning. I can understand why such ridiculous fare doesn't appeal to all comers, yet I can only lament that in 2023 folks still don't seem to get B-movies, for that's the only reason I can discern why 'Night Train' has seemingly been met with such poor reception.

Walley begins with reasonable foundations in his screenplay and then just twists them every which way. The dialogue fundamentally serviceable as a concept, but often ridiculous and ham-handed or over the top. Characters are formed around sound ideas - a hard-nose FBI suit, a hard-living "loose cannon" of a field officer, a struggling single mother - but taken to delightful extremes. That goes not least for protagonist Holly, who in addition to being a single mother is also a drag racer, apparently a professional racer, an expert in auto engineering, a union crew member in the film industry, and as the premise suggests, a smuggler. (This is almost as good as Cynthia Rothrock's character in 'Sworn to justice,' who is a psychic, a martial artist, and a lawyer.) And then there's the story: the second scene gives us all the most significant exposition, and while Walley gladly suggests monied interests, capitalist malfeasance, and political corruption making Holly's "side gig" profitable and necessary, he then goes as blunt and forthright as possible in asserting the nature of all the players behind the scenes. And it's utterly glorious.

So it goes on down the line, with everything about 'Night Train' being some combination of wholly overcooked, gauche, frank, unsubtle... you get the idea. This applies to instances of if not in some cases the entirety of the production design and art direction, Stanley's direction, Joel Layogan's cinematography, hair and makeup, the selected soundtrack, and not least the acting, all in addition to Walley's writing. Dan Radlauer's score is actually rather terrific all on its own, but is sometimes used in a manner that's completely overdone. Scenes (romance) or details (hair and makeup) may be perfectly fine and normal in and of themselves, but in their particular application in this feature become preposterous; some facets that are inherently glaring and questionable - the male gaze, a predominantly and dubiously white cast - are somehow more so here. Ryan is as pretty, charming, and disarming as she can be; Diora Baird plays Jackson as the most messed up, floundering, "barely able to stand" person she can; Joseph D. Reitman is just having a ball, whatever that might mean to him in the moment; Abraham Benrubi revels in his overacting; and so on, and so on. The project seems to take advantage of all the fanciest equipment it can get its paws on, the remote filming locations, and the long stretches of highway to make the end result look as slick and impressive as possible, to the point of subsequently (wittingly or not) amplifying the inauthenticity.

And still, for all this: none of it is sloppy, or accidental. All this is entirely on purpose. Sincere storytelling, some sharp dialogue, earnest performances, expert direction, solid craftsmanship, some important and admirable themes and ideas - all nevertheless reshaped or employed in a fashion that's sometimes sincerely engaging, at others cheekily funny, but consistently mostly just outrageous. And it's so wonderfully entertaining! Truthfully, the only specific problem I'm seeing here is that in sum the movie is distinctly imbalanced. Each constituent part is excellent; the issue is how 'Night Train' oscillates between laugh-worthy nonsense, and generally enjoyable nonsense; genuine barbed wit, appreciable themes, or bright commentary, and honest soul-baring emoting and character writing; straight, meaningful narrative and development thereof, and pure bluster; and, incredibly, more. For everything that this picture tries to say, do, and be, it's full of splendid ideas; if it had elected to solely be a serious take-down of corporate and political corruption, for example, or an outright comedy-thriller, it would be plainly outstanding. For the fact of rolling it all together into a single ninety-minute production, it's more than a little overloaded, and consequently disjointed. Yet all told - I also don't think it's unreasonable to suppose that this ultimately works in the title's favor. After all, the feature has already committed to absurdity, so why not take it a step further by going overboard in the most basic of ways?

What it comes down to, I think, is that this is fabulously fun and ludicrous, and the trouble is that it can't decide what kind of Ludicrous it wants to be. If it had eliminated even just one or two flavors or tones from its veritable buffet than the end product would have been tightened. Even at that, though, I'd be plainly lying if I said I didn't have a great time watching. Walley, Stanley, Ryan, and all others involved once again impress by churning out a slyly, purposefully overblown slice of silliness, and somehow giving it a beating heart of deeper value that irregularly shines through. Though it's inherently uneven and therefore flawed for all that it tries to weave in, I think this is broadly well made, and a joyful, satisfying viewing experience. I suppose in fairness that I do understand why this may not meet with equal success even among those who already go in for B-movies, but all I can say is that when all is said and done, much more than not I think this is a blast. If you enjoy films that are off the beaten path, unreservedly deliberate bunkum, and don't mind imperfections, 'Night Train' earns a hearty recommendation and a thumbs-up from me.

American ( B+ Movie) My Ratings 7.5/10

[THE-BEACON-OF-MOVIES-RAFA · 7/10 · 7 February 2023]

NOT FOR EVERYONE / especially not for people who loves gov & big brother

for me i like it and much better then expected.

Anyway we have our differences , so do i.

As a low budget The plot is full of twists and turns as Ryan adapts and outsmarts her enemies. The car chases are thrilling as she maneuvers through crowded city streets and barren desert landscapes. The pacing is brisk, with the action rarely letting up; the opening scene in the film took me right back to the original FAST AND THE FURIOUS movie (in the best way possible.) The film's main antagonist Jackson played by Diora Baird, is well-acted, providing a formidable challenge for Ryan. In terms of production value, NIGHT TRAIN is surprisingly top-notch. The film's visual effects are impressive, with the car chases and shootouts looking exceptionally realistic. The film's cinematography is also noteworthy, with the director expertly capturing the gritty world within the film. With solid performances,

This movie could of been so much better

[eprusulis · 4/10 · 17 January 2023]

This movie could've been so much better the drunk screwed up FBI agent is just way too unbelievable the whole FBI office is just ridiculous it's like the most unprofessional office she's the most unprofessional cop our boss is worse. It kind of hurts the movie a lot. Then some of the decisions they make her do I just dumb Which kind of hurts the show a lot. I mean you don't make her act like a mother at all They make her do too many take too many chances someone has a mother I will explain where the dad is. The FBI agent is such a drunk she shouldn't be able to figure anything. You would think worth FBI visiting his shop she wouldn't take any more chances even if she needs medicine I thought this movie was gonna be like a solid eight it looks so incredible and it's really weird how she doesn't even carry a gun with her. That doesn't really mistake Mik sense is for the FBI agent who really doesn't care she really puts a lot of energy into trying to find what's going on with us and trying to really make an arrest they also make it really easy for her to find information out like how did she know to talk to the actor that made absolutely no sense. It doesn't make sense on how she's not paying any of her bills even if like she did with the hospital told her to pay a little each week when she's winning drag racing competition she's getting money from her job which is working on the set of a teamster thing now she's running medical supplies and getting money from night it's like how does she never have any money it makes no sense they don't explain where she's like putting my money. It's like you don't even see the grandma she even alive well the kids grandma her phone her mother it's like They really don't explain why she doesn't ask her dad for help because it looks like her dad's pretty well off there's just so much that's not it explain in this movie.

I love a good B movie but this ain't one

[don-10512 · 16 April 2024]

Simply horrific in every aspect. Bad acting, zero action, horrible dialogue.

Reviewer skiplewis-49403 sums it up best.

"Cringe worthy and unwatchable. I couldn't even finish watching this junk to see the ending. Just really bad acting and a terrible script. There wasn't one part of this movie I found enjoyable. I had low expectations going into it and the movie was even worse than I expected I could barely pay attention and almost fell asleep. Terrible cast and laughable action scenes. Plot is not believable whatsoever. Seems to be the norm for most movies released nowadays . The fact that this was even released is comical. It's a real shame how bad movies have become. I would definitely not recommend watching this movie to anyone . Nails on a chalkboard bad."

The two blonde white women were confusing at first

[leshbaqgw · 2/10 · 22 October 2023]

The two blonde white women were confusing at first, but then I figured out that the mom has straight hair while the cop's is wavy, so that solves that.

The acting style in this movie was ultra-innovative. Keeping it obvious that they were reading lines made the movie very enjoyable even with the AI written plot.

The fact that this cinematic creation is only 100 times worse than the greatest achievement in all of film-making history - Fast and Furious, means it is still in the top 100 movies of all time!

Danielle Ryan is beautiful.

The joke about the the guy who keeps asking the girl if she has seen the triple-headed dragon in the kitchen making waffles - and then she replies No, have you seen my crystal meth? Was really funny and priginal.

Friendly

[jimboinbama · 5/10 · 20 July 2023]

It's showing individuals lives, with out the guns and blood or a spray of blood exiting a head wound on the green screen. I think it fresh and I like how it shows individual character. I'm just 16.51 in. I will review more in the second act. I'm liking the 2 leed charters. She took the money from the boss. She didn't recognize, The Set Up.im still liking the figuring out the personalities. And the investigator is a alcoholic. And suffering from PTSD. One is volatile, and the other cautious. Family values between daughter and father. And then the confrontation. The conversation and, The Challenge!

Fun-Fueled Indie Flick

[lilydarkart · 9/10 · 15 March 2023]

Night Train is a fun, low-budget flick for people who enjoy going for a ride. The movie opens with a beautifully shot racing scene and the audience is thrown right into the action.

Single mother Holly is the best racer around with her altered truck. Everyone hates her, of course. How dare a woman drive better than them? But they don't know. She's fighting for her son's life because he's all she's got. So she turns to the black market for his medication.

Jaylene is a vet assigned to a hard-nosed FBI agent. He mistakes her PSTD for drug addiction. She's just trying to survive and catch the bad guys. But how can she get the bad guys when she can't tell if she's one of them?

Soon, Jaylene is hot on Holly's trail. Twists and turns abound from start to finish. I highly recommend watching until the end, or else you'll miss a well-executed twist.

At its heart, Night Train is about two strong women racing to reach the finish line, only to find that line is blurry with morals and politics.

The only reason I gave this movie nine stars is that I wished it was longer.

Not that bad

[jonathanbroomhead · 6/10 · 22 July 2023]

This was a pretty decent movie. I'm surprised it had so many bad reviews. Sure, it's not fast and the furious levels of awesome, but it was clearly made on a budget.

The story is basic, but compelling enough to keep you interested. The casting was actually pretty good for budget actors. I believed what they were selling for the whole movie. Sure, the plot moved slow, then fast and there definitely some instances that didn't make a ton of sense but moved the plot forward.

My main critique is throwing in mechanical jargon that sounds legit, and kind of is, but real car people know that street racers and mechanics would never talk like that in real life.

Overall, it's worth a watch. Not the best movie I've ever seen, but I did enjoy it.

A good movie, victim of a robot attack. Form your own opinion.

[Isableue11 · 17 March 2023]

It's unreal. I don't understand, barring a deliberate bot attack, the ratings given to this movie don't make any sense. Unless the unexpected success of the previous film by this same writer/director team provoked revengeful jealousy. Going from honorable ratings, given by the first spectators in the movie theaters, to only ratings of 1 in one day, would be a joke if it weren't so sad. This film is good, maybe not what this highly touted second poster announces (why?), but there is an atmosphere, multidimensional characters, a duo of amazing actresses, action necessary for the script but not omnipresent and above all beautiful intimate scenes between characters. Shout out to Daniele C Ryan and Joe Lando for their father/daughter scenes. The questionable lynching of this film is not deserved. Don't expect a movie of big cylinders, explosions and brainless little peeps, it's much more than that. Give it a chance.

Good Movie with story, casting & Performance.

[anandh-47513 · 8/10 · 10 March 2023]

Actually, the movie was good nice story plot little new way of telling stories & screen play done ok... but still needed few more works, Direction also handled nicely also got happy ending.

Casting was great, all cast done their performance very well. Especially, Danielle C. Ryan & Diora Baird great pair they work more movies to-gather.

Only thing was they have to switch the character... Holly McCord character to Diora Baird & Jaylynne Jackson character to Danielle C. Ryan... it fits great.

Scores also fine but not great. Dialogue seems ok but not 100% and the costumes really good fits to every one, same with Makeup & hairstyle done well done.

Location & Photography was well done handled, including editing also good... movie released in PG-13.

Two leads are really good actors

[visitken · 6/10 · 6 March 2024]

I don't understand the low rating here. Is it because the two lead actors are female? I thought the acting was spot on by both leads (Danielle C. Ryan and Diora Baird) and the supporting cast as well, especially Joseph Reitman and Paul Haapaniemi. The dialogue was better than expected, certainly superior to anything written by M. Night Shyamalan. Yeah, the plot didn't make a whole lot of sense (why the need to speed to Las Vegas?) and some of the music was annoying but other than that, it was a solid flick. Also, the title of the movie could have been better, Night Train sounds like a horror movie that takes place on Amtrak.

A very enjoyable ride with a great "F you!" ending, the kind I really like

[moonletmoon · 9/10 · 24 July 2023]

I admit I'm not a tough critic, but I really enjoyed this film. I've been watching a ton of action movies lately, and this was definitely one of the better ones:

It deals with an important issue, one that's close to home and affects a lot of people; I definitely cared about the characters; It made sense and had an awesome ending.

Big Pharma is an abomination from the deepest depths of Hell, so definitely screw them. The Feds are certainly corrupt, so that's accurate. The two blonde white women were confusing at first, but then I figured out that the mom has straight hair while the cop's is wavy, so that solves that.

I think the plot makes perfect sense. It's realistic, and there's a good amount of emotional depth, especially near the end. As I said, I cared about the characters, and that's important to me.

I had no problem with it being an action movie with no on-screen shooting; who needs that?!

Overall, I recommend it.

I can do better than that

[nogodnomasters · 6/10 · 29 January 2023]

Holly McCord (Danielle C. Ryan ) is a single mom who likes to race. She named her son Shelby (Thomas Nelson ). Shelby needs to be on anti-biotics all the time, the ones that are expensive. She gets them from Mexico through a black market dealer named Renzo Romeo (Paul Haapaniemi ) a handsome man who likes Holly. We then meet Officer Jackson (Diora Baird-2005 Playboy) who is a PTSD vet who enjoys drinking and sex. Her job is to stop the drug transport between "here" and Vegas. She gets the airplanes grounded, so Holly does a run in her souped up truck. The big boss Mr. Maxwell (Abraham Benrubi) takes a shine to her, which isn't good.

I am not sure why the run had to be done in 3 hours at night and not slower during the day using old people driving like they traffic drugs out of Florida up 95. But they did. I overrated this film because I am a big fan of Danielle C. Ryan who I loved in "Double Threat" and all those idiotic films she did in Utah when she didn't get Katniss.

Guide: No swearing, sex, or nudity. Almost as bad as a Kevin Sorbo film.

Good acting, good writing, story driven

[showdowning · 8/10 · 24 July 2023]

This is GOOD! But not in the spoon-fed, guns-blazing, survive-three-car-crashes way something like Fast and Furious is. But this show has deep characters, great, believable dialogue, real situations that are messy and hard to get out of. The budget might be lower than your average multimillion dollar Netflix movie, but that means you can watch it without the guilt of knowing an army of homeless people could have been fed, but instead you wanted to be entertained. This is good storytelling and good acting carrying the plot without glitz and glamour. If you're looking for the next visually stunning epic, keep looking...or better yet try it because it might challenge your status quo perception of what is considered good cinema.