Gary Oldman is a perverted little weirdo in this bizarre psychological drama

Nicolas Roeg is a director who has inspired more major films than he has created. His style is somewhat impenetrable and dark, and this is often the mark of a respected author. But in 1988, Roeg released a film that might have asked too much of casual audiences: Lane 29. Gary Oldman makes a wild early appearance as Martin, a young Englishman searching for his birth mother (Theresa Russell) in North Carolina. This normal-sounding plot isn’t nearly as heartwarming as it sounds. Roeg presents a surreal, insane Oedipal drama with stalking and lots and lots of model trains.

Gary Oldman is as scary as ever in “Track 29.”

Lane 29 is probably best remembered as an early performance by Gary Oldman that showcases the actor’s range ever since. But the film specifically follows Linda, an upper-middle-class housewife married to a doctor named Henry Henry and played by a surprisingly subtle man Christopher Lloyd. Linda is clearly struggling with her home life, along with a desperate fixation on parenthood that creeps eerily into her sex life. Henry (Henry Henry) doesn’t seem to understand Linda’s desire to have children and instead devotes his entire passion to model trains. He also puts his passion into… a nurse colleague (Sandra Bernard). Yes, things aren’t exactly rosy in the Henry household, and Just on the verge of Linda’s final psychological breakdown, Martin appears.

Gary Oldman plays the role of the initially charming but ultimately frightening Martin. In search of his mother, who gave him up for adoption as a baby, he sets off for Wilmington, North Carolina. He stands out like a sore thumb in the rural community, but by chance he finds Linda and begins a truly creepy relationship with her. Roeg does not dance on the edge of Oedipal ideas. Instead, he dives in from the start. Oldman skillfully portrays a disturbed young man who oscillates between childish tantrums and an aggressive look at Linda. And it seems like Linda can’t decide whether she likes it or not. The reason for this indecision is pretty tragic and super hard, but Lane 29 doesn’t play with subtlety here either. In truth, Lane 29 is quite brash in its delivery, making it seem almost comedic in its extremity, while at the same time following a very dark path.

Is Gary Oldman’s Martin real?

One has to ask the question: “Is Martin real?” He appears in Linda’s life on the verge of a psychotic breakdown, with the woman even threatening her distant husband with suicide. He happened to be in the exact restaurant where Linda had lunch with her friend (Colleen Camp) and knew immediately that Linda was his mother. Oldman delivers such a powerful performance, with his childish seizures and Oedipal sexual aggression, that it’s hard to believe he’s real. And Roeg seems to take pleasure in obfuscating that question by having Martin interact with people other than Linda, seemingly eliminating the possibility that he’s just in her head. However, in other scenes, Linda talks to Martin while no one else can see him. Regardless of whether Martin is real or not, Linda’s ultimate fear of him is very strongand her desire to become a mother is also very real. The meaning isn’t easy to deduce and the film is equal parts bizarre and difficult, but that’s what makes it so interesting.

Lane 29 is not your average family drama, and Gary Oldman carries this tough film with a dynamic, terrifying performance. Nicolas Roeg offers a deep and surreal story with strange images and frightening scenes, and that’s not even mentioning the trains! The film isn’t easy to digest at first glance, but that’s probably because of the intention. Roger Ebert probably described it Lane 29 Bester in his review: “…not every film has to massage us with pleasure. Some are allowed to be aggressive and frustrating to make us think.” If Lane 29 doesn’t do anything else, it will surely make its viewers think.

Lane 29 is available to watch in the US on Plex.

Track 29 (1988)

Release date

July 12, 1988

director

Nicolas Roeg

Pour

Theresa Russell, Gary Oldman, Christopher Lloyd, Colleen Camp, Sandra Bernhard, Seymour Cassel, Leon Rippy, Vance Colvig, Kathryn Tomlinson, Elijah Christopher Perry, Tommy Hull, J. Michael Hunter, Richard K. Olsen, Ted Barrow

Duration

86 minutes

writer

Dennis Potter

Character(s)

Linda Henry, Martin, Henry Henry, Arlanda, Sister Stein, Dr. Bernard Fairmont, trucker, Mr. Ennis, receptionist, redneck, counterman, waiter, delegate, old man

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Watch on Plex