The D Train: Movie Review

The pairing of Jack Black and James Marsden in a high school reunion film seemed so very promising. The two actors can be really funny and Marsden to me is one of the most underrated comedic actors working today. Unfortunately, what we wound up getting is a somewhat depressing dark-comedy about two emotionally screwed up individuals that are just too sad to actually be funny.

Dan (Black) has always wanted to be the cool guy. The kind of guy people want to hang out with. Sadly that has never been the case. Even the people he works on the high school reunion committee with don’t want to hang out with him. When the 20 year high school reunion does not get the RSVPs it needs, Dan has the brilliant idea to track down Oliver Lawless (Marsden) and convince him to attend the reunion. Oliver was one of the coolest guys in high school and now he is an actor living in Hollywood.

Dan winds up spinning a web of lies to not only his wife (Kathryn Hahn) but also his boss (Jeffrey Tambor), so he can travel to California without telling them what he is actually up to. “The D Train” goes in an unexpected direction when Dan and Oliver go out for a night of partying in L.A. only to wind up having sex at the end of the night. From that point on, the film gets pretty strange as Dan becomes almost like a jealous lover.

“The D Train” has a few inspired moments, but it just didn’t work for me as a whole. It is a shame because I love the cast. The biggest problem is the writing and direction by Andrew Mogel and Jarrad Paul who actually make their directorial debut here. The cast does their best with what they have to work with. Hopefully we can see the two stars pair up again in something that is actually funny.

By: Marc Ferman