THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN [R] D+

Coming into this adaptation of the Paula Hawkins bestselling novel, I found myself intrigued by the early scenes. Director Tate Taylor (“The Help”) and screenwriter Erin Cressida Wilson (“Men, Women & Children”) seemed on course to craft an antidote to the precise thrills of David Fincher’s “Gone Girl,” by fashioning an examination based on the multiple perspectives of three female characters – Rachel (Emily Blunt), the anchorless ex-wife, Anna (Rebecca Ferguson), the replacement wife able to provide a child to the handsome husband (Justin Theroux), and Megan (Haley Bennett), the young object of Rachel’s attention, observed by Rachel as she rides the train each day. Shifting between these women, reminiscent of the Showtime series “The Affair,” might have injected some life and mystery into the tired melodrama. Instead, the narrative zeroes in on Rachel and questions regarding her sanity, which offers Blunt plenty of opportunities to appear swept up in the emotional tides, but there’s not depth to the currents. By the end, we realize that “The Girl on the Train” has never been able to take off.