Search - Masterpiece Theatre: Railway Children on DVD

The Railway Children - Review

Laura Beckel | 04/30/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Jenny Agutter stars in this 2000 film edition of the novel by E. Nesbit's The Railway Children. She plays the part of the children's mother. She understands Roberta(Jemima Rooper)better than her other two children having played the part of Roberta in the 1970's version of the film.This version of the film, however, is clearly Rooper's picture. She plays the part of Roberta perfectly understanding the conflict of her childhood adventures on the railway line and her adulthood, in which she begins to understand far more about her fathers disappearance than her younger siblings do. The whole story is put into motion when the childrens father mysteriously disappears one night. The children are then told a week later that they are to move into the country. After the move the children take up waving to trains on the nearby railway line. This leads them into many adventures such as stopping a train from derailing,reuniting an escaped Russian prisoner with his family and rescuing a schoolboy who injured himself in the tunnel. A few of thier adventures are accomplished with the help of an old gentleman (Richard Attenborough) who waves to them from the rear carriage of The Green Dragon. He trns out to be the owner of the railroad and helps Roberta (Jemima Rooper) clear her fathers name of false treason.The film itself is 97 minutes long with a few minutes added to the beggining and end for Russell Baker's commentary and historical context."