The D Train

Directed by Andrew Mogel and Jarrad Paul, The D Train follows Jack Black Daniel Landsman as he attempts to impress everyone around him by convincing his high school’s coolest alumni (James Marsden’s Oliver Lawless) to attend an upcoming reunion. It’s a familiar yet promising setup that’s employed to mostly entertaining (albeit rather forgettable) effect by Mogel and Paul, as the filmmakers, armed with their screenplay, deliver a briskly-paced endeavor that ultimately fares best in its fun, engaging opening and closing stretches – with the padded-out midsection suffering from a sluggish feel that does adversely affect the movie’s overall impact. There’s little doubt, then, that The D Train‘s perpetually watchable atmosphere is due to the top-notch efforts of its various performers, with, in particular, Black’s impressively layered and subtle turn as the sympathetic protagonist going a long way towards smoothing over the narrative’s bumps and lulls. (It’s clear, as well, that Mogel and Paul elicit first-class work from an eclectic roster of periphery players like Kathryn Hahn, Jeffrey Tambor, and Mike White.) And although the whole thing’s rarely as engrossing as one might’ve hoped, despite an admittedly surprising (and impressive) twist at around the half hour mark, The D Train nevertheless comes off as a decent-enough comedy that benefits from its intriguing premise and raft of charismatic performances.

**1/2 out of ****

Leave a comment