Movie Review

Transsiberian

“Transsiberian” is the second film from director Brad Anderson, who scored a pretty big indie hit and unleashed an even darker side to Christian Bale in “The Machinist” back in 2004. His new film is already being called a Hitchcockian thriller and the cast, which includes Woody Harrelson, Emily Mortimer, and the great Ben Kingsley make the movie seem just that much more interesting to watch. Just anytime you hear the words Hitchcockian thriller the bar gets raised and the expectations suddenly go up a notch. And there are a slew of movies that try to take the title that don’t even come close like “Derailed” with Jennifer Aniston and Clive Owen. So you wonder, can Transsiberian live up to its lofty title?

Harrelson and Mortimer play Roy and Jessie, two Americans involved with charity work in Beijing who before going back to the states decide to take the legendary Transsiberian train journey from China to Russia. The couple is going through a rough patch in their marriage and hope the vacation will ignite some lost passion. On the train they meet Carlos (Eduardo Noriega) and Abby (Kate Mara), a couple with no passion troubles who spend much of their time traveling the world together, picking up money doing random tasks along the way. The couples become very close. When Roy gets lost at a train stop along the way, Carlos and Abby even offer to wait with Jessie at the next stop until he returns. Just things get dicey later on and soon Jessie is alone with a bag full of heroin. Not only that but in a sort of contrived coincidence, Roy returns to her with narcotics detective Grinko (Ben Kingsley) at his side. Grinko is traveling by train as well and is looking for the same drugs Jessie happens to have.

The movie is a sadly average and underwhelming thriller. It begins with a long setup where we discover the characters have marital problems and shady past lives. We’re meant to wonder who Abby and Carlos are, what do they want, and whether Carlos and Jessie will wind up cheating on their partners with each other. But it's so easy to see who the red herrings are and what the plot devices will be that this movie is less about suspense than about sitting back and waiting for it to finally happen already. Then when it finally does, we’re left with Jessie reacting in supremely silly and just downright insane ways that the audience is just sitting there wondering why she isn’t doing the obvious things. All of a sudden she’s running through the train like a crazy person trying to get rid of a bag full of drugs (and oddly enough none of the train staff try to restrain her), she’s lying to cops and her husband when honestly doing the exact opposite would be more beneficial, she’s protecting a young girl she barely knows, she’s deleting pictures that could possibly prove her case in the end. It’s just one dumb move after another. The last 20 minutes of the movie goes off on a violent tangent but it's still the best part of this otherwise lackluster screenplay.

There were some things I did enjoy. The atmosphere with snow-laden landscapes and trees is phenomenal and the actors do their best to keep things at a high-pace, especially Emily Mortimer. Her character doesn’t exactly work but Mortimer’s emotional connection to her does. She begins the movie seeming suspiciously shady only later to layer on the dread and desperate panic of someone plunged into an extremely serious situation. And this is the type of role Harrelson could do in his sleep, playing a straight-laced 'golly-gee' type American. His character is someone willing to be adventurous but also cautious and average at the same time. Roy’s sort of a contradiction but I feel like I’ve met world travelers like him so instead he seemed very genuine. Noriega and Mara do nice work being deceptively dangerous, and Noriega in particular is suspiciously charming. And then you have Ben Kingsley, nailing the Russian accent while throwing in some hidden agenda behind the eyes as well.

The actors are doing their shady best in “Transsiberian," and you can see Anderson’s love for the Hitchcock films he’s trying to emulate, but unfortunately he just seems to be trying too hard to make something out of an average story.

Craig's Grade: C

A	10.9%
B	41.8%
C	31.8%
D	15.3%
F	0.3%