The Railway Man

Colin Firth plays Eric Lomax, a former prisoner of the Japanese during World War II, who learns that the soldier who tortured him is still alive and serving as a guide at the Burmese camp where Lomax was held. Lomax decides to confront the man in an attempt to come to terms with his terrible memories. Adapted from Lomax's autobiography by Frank Cottrell Boyce and Andy Paterson and directed by Jonathan Teplitzky, the movie simplifies the story (eliminating Lomax's first marriage completely), then jumps back and forth between the 1980s and the war (where Lomax is played by Jeremy Irvine). The movie is rather reticent and uninvolving, but well-acted all around, especially by Irvine. Nicole Kidman is also fine as Lomax's loving wife, as is Stellan Skarsgård as a lifelong friend who shared Lomax's captivity.