Sometimes a Grand Jury Prize nomination at Sundance can actually play against a movie. The D Train earned attention and garnered strong reviews at the film festival, generating plenty of buzz. It’s certainly a noble attempt that has some curious twists and amusing moments, but the end product never quite coheres completely as a drama or a comedy.
Dan (Jack Black) is a middle-aged family man and head of his high school’s reunion committee. He is also in something of a personal rut, feeling lonely and disrespected by his volunteer team – essentially, maintaining the same persona he had back in class. Dan’s attitude soon changes when he sees Oliver (James Marsden) as an actor in a nationally televised commercial. With stars in his eyes, he concocts a plan to befriend the school’s most popular kid and convince him to return and attend the reunion (thereby increasing his own worth among the class).
After the two reconnect and go out for a night on the town, events take an odd turn. But perhaps not in the way that many will be expecting. When Dan returns back home to his family, he begins to feel very, very uncomfortable about his exploits and the repercussions it could have with locals and his loved ones.
There are several interesting themes. Besides obsession, they include why we become so enamored with others and how far people will go to be liked or wanted. Additionally, we get to see the effects adoration has on the attention getters. For example, how it makes them feel and the influence it has on their actions and desire to please. It doesn’t all work, but the script succeeds more often when it abandons the obvious broadly played gags and attempts a sensitive approach towards its characters. If only it had explored these concepts in more depth.
However, the movie is intended to be as much of a wacky comedy as it is a drama. Some of the attempts at humor come across as off-kilter tonally in a couple of scenes. It’s not derisive in its approach, but one act seems shot in a way to simply generate laughs. If the movie really wants to treat its characters with compassion and honesty, playing some of these moments in such a broad manner appears unwise.
Having said that, its heart is in the right place and there are funny moments. The movie milks the awkward situation in some inventive ways. Some big laughs include Oliver’s attempts to coach Dan’s 14-year old son after the boy is propositioned by his girlfriend for a ménage a trios. It’s a very awkward scene, but admittedly funny. There’s strong supporting work from Dan’s technology-challenged boss (Jeffrey Tambor) and wife Stacey (Kathryn Hahn) gets in an amusing comment or two.
Though its focus and themes are slightly different, it almost feels like a more genial version of the 2000 film Chuck & Buck (which coincidentally, starred supporting cast member Mike White). Some of the humor works and a bit of the drama hits home, but the whole somehow equals less than the sum of the parts. It’s a borderline call. The D Train has some amusing moments, but it all doesn’t always gel together as strongly as one would hope for.