Starring Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman. Rated 14A.

The Railway Man is based on the true story of former British officer Eric Lomax. A POW in a Japanese labour camp during the Second World War, Lomax and his fellow prisoners served as slave workers for the building of the Thai-Burma railroad.

The film begins in 1980 with the older Lomax (Colin Firth), a shy bachelor with a lifelong enthusiasm for anything related to railways. He’s on a train when he meets his future wife, Patti (Nicole Kidman). It’s not long before he stuns his fellow vets by declaring that he’s fallen in love.

The catch? Eric is haunted by memories of being brutally tortured during the war. As a result, his gentle nature is sporadically interrupted by everything from periodic brooding to sudden fits of violence. Although Patti is determined to help, Eric remains mute—until he discovers that the Japanese soldier who tortured him (played in the POW sequences by Tanroh Ishida, and later by Hiroyuki Sanada) is still alive.

As a couple, Firth and Kidman are so subtly captivating that I found myself wishing they had more screen time together. Alas, at least half the story—told in flashback and involving three of the main characters as younger versions of themselves—concerns Lomax’s time in the labour camp. At times, it feels as if director Jonathan Teplitzky is juggling two separate movies.

The POW aspect of the story line can’t help but come across a bit like a low-rent version of The Bridge on the River Kwai. What helps to keep it reasonably fresh? An admirably convincing turn by Jeremy Irvine (War Horse) as the younger Eric.

It’s the postwar scenario that’s loaded with the film’s best performances. If we ultimately end up with what seems like half a great movie, it’s still better than most.