In the Denis Johnson canon, indeed anyone else's canon, there's nothing quite like Train Dreams (2002), a short and matchless piece of pure Americana. His other masterpiece, Tree of Smoke, is totally different, a black-as-night Vietnam War epic. He also wrote terrific noir. There's plenty of Terrence Malick in sophomore director Bentley's portrayals of the American wilds, but it might have taken an oracle at Malick's level, maybe a better cinematographer, to fully capture the sweeping universality of the workman Grainier's uniquely American travails as he marches alongside (rather than inside) its 20th century history. The thoughtful Australian Joel Edgerton, long embedded in US, and in US cinema, thrives on roles like this. English actress Felicity Jones does the job, as his loved and lamented wife. But do read Train Dreams, you won't forget it. Also, I dare some genius to film Tree of Smoke. Done properly, it might make Apocalypse Now look like a walk in the park.

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