Night Train to Lisbon

The idea about the journey being more important than the destination certainly applies to the lead character in Night Train to Lisbon, an old-fashioned drama about a man’s impulsive voyage of self-discovery.

As the title suggests, there is plenty of lovely Portuguese scenery along the way, but not much else to recommend this blend of trumped-up mystery and low-key character study.

Jeremy Irons stars as Raimund, a professor living in Switzerland whose life changes after he rescues a suicidal young woman (Martina Gedeck) on a bridge. She drops a rare book during the encounter, arousing Raimund’s curiosity both about the woman and the book.

Perhaps sensing a mid-life crisis, he suddenly abandons his mundane existence and heads to Lisbon, where he becomes obsessed with learning the tragic life story of the book’s author by meeting his troubled sister (Charlotte Rampling) and others who knew him.

Before long, Raimund’s search for the woman becomes secondary to his quest to hear stories from decades earlier, when the author (Jack Huston) was an outspoken doctor during a time of political turmoil.

The deliberately paced film, which is based on a novel by French writer Pascal Mercier, too often bogs down in monotonous narration and philosophical mumbo-jumbo. There’s also some heavy-handed symbolism, such as Raimund’s acquisition of a new pair of glasses corresponding with his ability to see his life more clearly.

However, Night Train to Lisbon is not as profound as it tries to be, with strained attempts to draw muddled parallels between its abundant flashbacks and its contemporary story. Even if you appreciate the author’s outlook on life and politics by the end of the film, it requires too much work to get there.

The esteemed cast elevates the material more than it deserves, with the ensemble including eccentric yet pivotal supporting turns from veterans such as Tom Courtenay, Bruno Ganz and Christopher Lee.

Danish director Bille August (The House of the Spirits) likewise turns in a workmanlike effort, with an approach that’s more safe than edgy and should skew toward an older demographic. But regardless of the audience, the literary nature of the material doesn’t seem to translate well from page to screen.

Rated R, 110 minutes.