Reviews

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  ★★★½ review by Vanina on Letterboxd

  Disastrous title (alternatively titled 'Bad Bromance', if you can believe it) may lead people to give this film a wide berth, which is a real shame. Not the greatest film, but it's entertaining and contains hints of 'Election' and 'The Cable Guy' - no Matthew Broderick here, but a dry, black sense of humour with a smidgeon of dashed dreams. I find Jack Black endearing, funny and hopelessly annoying, and he straddles that fine line here to great effect.

  The great mystery of the film is why it has such an excellent (excellent!) mid-80s soundtrack and 80s-inspired score when the film is about a 20-year class reunion for the class of 1994. Would you play music at a high school reunion that was popular when you were in primary school? The 80s music makes more sense when you realise Jack Black and James Marsden were 25 and 21 in 1994, respectively, so the 80s tunes are more believable as their high school nostalgia. For someone supposedly in their mid-to-late 30s, Black does very much look mid-40s. Black and Marsden are great, but these things should have been tweaked in the script - now it feels like the script's been shopped around so long and often that it's been written for two sets of lead actors, or one 20-year and one 30-year reunion.

  Minor gripes aside, an entertaining film that has a refreshingly mature outlook (for a Sundance film with mainstream appeal) on two men having a one-night stand together, despite the title conveying otherwise.

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  ★★★½ review by Brandon Hart on Letterboxd

  I'm not going to spoil what The D Train's really about, because its marketing seems to hope for that to remain a secret. But, upon discovering the plot before buying my ticket, I expected only mediocre jokes pertaining to homophobia.

  That would seem like the case, but shockingly, the cast, script, and direction manage to come together to create something genuinely funny, sweet, and unique as hell. It's about the seeking of popularity and your ideal self more than anything else. And putting that subject into a high school reunion is rather clever, making for something strangely touching.

  This is hard to review without spoilers.

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  ★★★★½ review by Josh Stewart on Letterboxd

  A lot of the reviews on here seem to not understand that just because something stars Jack Black, it doesn’t mean it’s a straightforward comedy. In fact, this is pretty dark and weird, like World’s Greatest Dad level. But it’s great. And oddly sweet. And absolutely for weirdos like me.

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  ★★★★ review by Derek Diercksmeier on Letterboxd

  Andrew Mogel and Jarrad Paul's directorial debut The D Train is remarkably well-rendered and one of the major surprises of the year. It delves into some truly unexpected areas and it is beautifully shot. It's also rather sad and thoughtful. With this and his terrific performance on HBO's The Brink, Jack Black is better than ever. James Marsden is strong. Kathryn Hahn is a treasure. There's something really interesting about this film. It is not at all what was expected.

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  ★★★½ review by moviegrande on Letterboxd

  Like a newer version of "Chuck and Buck". Its not as great as that but is still damn good with some unexpected moments and a nice message. I think the movie really gets good by the first twist And after that it really gets its footing for the rest of the movie. I also couldnt help but relate to this movies message so I hold it in higher regard than some people would.

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