Transsiberian (2008) Movie Review

Brad Anderson’s beautifully shot and toned train thriller Transsiberian plays homage to past train-thriller classics like Hitchcock’s The Lady Vanishes and Murder on the Orient Express. Though it moves swiftly, has a solid cast and delivers the goods of the genre, it slides off the rails during its final act.

The film follows the American couple of Roy (Woody Harrelson) and Jessie (Emily Mortimer), who have just finished up dedicated church mission work in China. The two decide to make their way home the scenic route on a train that runs 7 days from Beijing, China to Moscow, Russia. Roy is a good husband with a tender heart that years ago rescue Jessie from a world of tempting sins, and is proud of his marriage and his wife’s talent as a photographer. The two end up bunking up with the questionable young couple of Carlos (Eduardo Noriega) and Abby (Kate Mara), who travel the globe teaching languages. The couples do bond, but become separated from Roy at a Russian train stop, when he accidentally misses the train while sightseeing. Abby and Carlos decide to stick around with Jessie until Roy catches up with them, must to her embarrassment and dismay. Secrets are then revealed and the film turns into a psychological thriller with Roy’s return with the help of a Russian cop named Grinko (Ben Kingsley) and his vengeful partner Kolzak (Thomas Kretschmann).

Brad Anderson has delivered unique and solid films in the past with Session 9 and The Machinist, and Transsiberian is an applicable homage to the train thriller genre that is almost extinct nowadays in Hollywood. Along with his co-writer Will Conroy, Anderson spices up the script with multi-layered characters, with their past playing mind tricks on the audience. The film is well-tuned and terrifically executed as a thriller, until the final twenty minutes just collapse the film. Though the engulfing snow, train cabins, and eerie atmosphere are nice touches by Anderson and his cinematographer Xavi Gimenez, the final twist of the film is predictable and the knock out ending that is anticipated falls flat on its face. Anderson also gives homage mostly to Hitchcock, but other suspense directors throughout, such as William Friedkin and The Coen Brothers.

The talented Emily Mortimer delivers one of her best performances as Jessie, as the middle of the film relies totally on her emotions and secrets. Woody Harrelson is suitable as the dedicated husband Roy, but goes a little over the top as the stress of his situation increases. The great Ben Kingsley has fun and chews the scenery as usual as the questionable Russian cop Grinko. As Kingsley’s partner, Thomas Kretschmann does not utter one line of English, but does make his prescience known. Lastly, Eduardo Noriega and Kate Mara are consistent in their supporting roles as the couple that befriends Jessie and Roy.

The first two-thirds of Transsiberian plays out brilliantly as a psychological train thriller. However, once the plot points start disconnecting and the film itself begins to slow down and struggle, the final act of the film brings it down from being a riveting thriller to a modest one. Brad Anderson has a solid eye for atmosphere and the skills of delivering good films, one hopes he can just get a better handle of tweaking and tightening his scripts.