Themes: Mysterious Strangers, Mothers and Sons, Adoption
Main Cast: Theresa Russell, Gary Oldman, Sandra Bernhard, Christopher Lloyd, Colleen Camp
Release Year: 1988
Country: UK
Run Time: 90 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
A dissatisfied woman encounters a mysterious stranger who may be her long-lost son in this peculiar, darkly comic drama. Theresa Russell plays the deeply disappointed Linda Henry, who feels stifled by a strained marriage to Dr. Henry Henry (Christopher Lloyd), who pays more attention to his model railroads than to his wife. Desperate for diversion, she is captivated when Martin (Gary Oldman) arrives, claiming to be the child she gave up for adoption after a teenage pregnancy. She immediately bonds with this stranger, but numerous signs indicate that he may not be what he seems. Strange behavior follows from everyone involved, with some of the film's most bizarre sequences concerning Dr. Henry's toy train fetish. The complex, often ambiguous script is by noted British writer Dennis Potter, who also wrote Pennies from Heaven and The Singing Detective, and Nicolas Roeg provided his predictably stylized, enigmatic direction. Despite several interesting moments, Track 29 is far from either Potter's or Roeg's best work, and most critics found it a bizarre, ineffective muddle. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
Seymour Cassel - Dr. Bernard Fairmont; Vance Colvig - Mr. Ennis; J. Michael Hunter - Waiter; Richard Olsen - Delegate; Leon Rippy - Trucker; Jerry Rushing - Redneck; Ted Barrow - Old Man; Tommy Hull - Counterman; Kathryn Tomlinson - Receptionist
Credit
David Brockhurst - Art Director, Francine Mercadante - Art Director, Curtis Schnell - Art Director, Shuna Harwood - Costume Designer, Nicolas Roeg - Director, Tony Lawson - Editor, George Harrison - Executive Producer, Denis O'Brien - Executive Producer, Stanley Myers - Composer (Music Score), Carolyn Leigh - Songwriter, Theodore Morse - Songwriter, John Richards - Songwriter, Harry Woods - Songwriter, Jeff Goodwin - Makeup, David Brockhurst - Production Designer, Shuna Harwood - Production Designer, Alex Thomson - Cinematographer, Rick McCallum - Producer, Douglas Mowat - Set Designer, Dave Beavis - Special Effects, Dean Gates - Special Effects, Dennis Potter - Screenwriter, Mack Gordon - Featured Music, John Lennon - Featured Music, Fiske O'Hara - Featured Music, Harry Warren - Featured Music
The wife of a small town doctor tires of his spending too much time playing with his model trains, and starts thinking about the son she gave up for adoption years before. While dining at a cafe, she meets a British hitchhiker, who believes he is her son. Years earlier, she was raped and gave up her son for adoption. The son may be a figment of her imagination. They start to get to know each other and the son starts to hate the husband. The wife begins to fear for her husband's safety.
