Everyone knows that person who peaked in High School. That person who you wanted nothing more to be or at the very least, be their friend, because you knew that had to be cool. The graduation comes and we all move on with our lives, and many years later you are at your High School reunion and you all wonder what ever happened to Joe or Jane Cool? As you build up what greatness they discovered after school, it is only as you look back at the past that what was, that you realize that just maybe the person you wanted to be around in High School ended up only having that one thing at that one time. Everyone knows that story and maybe knows someone who I just described, and that is what “The D Train” explores.
Dan (Jack Black) lives a normal life; he has a wife, Stacey (Kathryn Hahn) and two kids, and a job. Dan though also wants to be important, and while on the committee for his High School reunion he comes up with an idea that just might make him great in everyone’s eyes. That plan is to convince the most popular guy in his class to come to the reunion, thinking that will open the floodgates of RSVPs. This idea all comes together when he sees Oliver (James Marsden) on a national commercial and Dan puts the plan in motion, all he needs now is to convince Oliver to come. So he flies to Los Angeles to convince Oliver to come. Once there, Dan puts Oliver on that familiar pedal-stool and Dan finally feels like he fits in, and he convinces Oliver to come to the reunion. Once back to his normal life, the life Dan wants and the one he has collide, and both men come face to face with who they really are.
While watching this movie, it feels like they got what a reunion really is like. It’s the few people who really want to make it happen and then those who show up and that’s about it. Growing up in the eighties, high school felt like John Hughes defined it, that he just knew how to paint the perfect picture of life and those times. This film often feels like if Hughes has written a film about his characters and their reunion. While the screenplay written by Jarrad Paul and Andrew Mogel has some funny moments, it the combination of the music and characters that give it that Hughes feel. Not many actors can play a normal guy like Jack Black, and it feels like only he can play this character like he does. Of course balance that with the movie star feel of Marsden and you have the perfect feel of what these guys are trying to accomplish. “The D Train” is not a great movie, but it is definitely an entertaining one and really gets the whole feeling of the High School reunions right. So if you want to reminisce or you want to catch a few laughs, “The D Train” is worth the ride.
Brian Taylor