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Rails & Ties
Metascore
44 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 15 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 15
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 15
  3. Negative: 3 out of 15
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  1. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    63
    I found the opening third tremendously intriguing and involving, I thought the emotions were so real they could be touched, but then the film lost its way and fell into the clutches of sentimental melodrama.
  2. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Stephen Cole
    63
    The film's best and most carefully shaded performance belongs to Bacon.
  3. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Manohla Dargis
    60
    Everything looks professional if undistinguished.
  4. Variety
    Reviewed by: Todd McCarthy
    60
    Reserved, careful and largely predictable in the way it plays out its wrenching emotional crises.
  5. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Michael Rechtshaffen
    50
    A heartfelt but dramatically flat portrait of a couple grappling with one tragedy whose lives are profoundly affected by the outcome of another.
  6. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Phillips
    50
    All the astute acting in the world can't bring such a preposterous story into the station on time and intact.
  7. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Claudia Puig
    50
    While it features three strong performance and the debut of a promising filmmaker, the story line is obvious and rather melodramatic.
  8. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Owen Gleiberman
    50
    Rails & Ties is like one bad TV movie that slammed into another.
  9. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Ella Taylor
    50
    Alison Eastwood's debut feature is slow, deliberate, assured, and shot with a graceful feel for place--none of which is enough to overcome the creaky themes that tie this hackneyed domestic drama together with fearsome symmetry.
  10. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Carina Chocano
    50
    As lovely as some of the footage looks and as committed as are the three lead performances, they serve only to make Rails & Ties play like an exceptionally well-acted and well-made Lifetime movie.
  11. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: J.R. Jones
    50
    Alison Eastwood, whose good looks and last name have served her well as a Hollywood actress, makes her directing debut with this mediocre cancer drama.
  12. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Keith Phipps
    42
    Nobody feels anything they're not explicitly told to feel. Not even the audience.
  13. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Kyle Smith
    25
    The only conceivable reason for Warner Bros. to (barely) release this mush is as a favor to Clint Eastwood, whose daughter Alison directed.
  14. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Ruthe Stein
    25
    Chock-full of holes.
  15. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Maitland McDonagh
    25
    The film rings so consistently false that it's more likely to induce snickers and eye-rolling.
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User Reviews

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User Score
8.3 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 7 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 4
  3. Negative: 0 out of 4
  1. DebraO
    8
    Well acted and directed. Good story line, a couple of surprises or turns could have brought it up a little and silenced the critics.
  2. KC.
    8
    A feel good movie where tragedy and illness in life are balanced with something that is good. It's predictable but it solicits emotions out of you like a good movie should.… Full Review »
  3. RodM.
    10
    Excellent movies. My experience has been that if the critics don't like it, then it is a great movie! I loved the movie, and thought the actors did a supurb job, especially Marcia!… Full Review »
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