The story of Transsiberian begins with a married couple returning from missionary work in China by way of the Trans-Siberian Railroad, the woman played by Emily Mortimer and the man by Woody Harrelson. The early scenes depict the two very much in love and excited about their journey, but it is immediately clear that they are cut from very different cloth. Mortimer plays the wife, Jessie, as reserved and withdrawn while Harrelson is over-the-top and enthused about everything as Roy, her husband. Both overplay their parts to a large extent, but Mortimer puts in an excellent performance. Once on the train, they meet up with another couple, younger and wiser in the ways of the road. From this point on, slowly but surely, the comfortable and fun existence that Roy and Jessie enjoyed starts to unravel. The thrilling part of Transsiberian is how the director, Brad Anderson, tells this story so that the viewer begins to anticipate and fear each new twist and turn.
Much of Transsiberian is derivative, but done in such a reverential way that it never feels like plagiarism. Anderson draws from classic "train thriller" films like Murder on the Orient Express, Strangers on a Train, and we even saw snatches of From Russia With Love. The confinement of small spaces, plus the excitement and mystery of sharing them with strangers comes to a head here. There are also twists and turns that echo many of the best mystery/thrillers like The Departed, Heist, AND L.A. Confidential. An echo is the right analogy, since we all know that these get fainter as they repeat over distance and time. Director Anderson is his own man, but he clearly set out to make a movie that incorporated his favorite elements from a broad swathe of the thriller genre. He succeeded in creating an entertaining pastiche, but failed to convincingly draw together something bold enough to stand the test of time.
What Transsiberian most lacks is subtlety. All the films mentioned above did what they did as a magician does sleight-of-hand. When characters' true natures and actions were revealed, it was often shocking, and even when you knew what was coming - as in the train sequence in From Russia With Love - the setup was deviously smooth. Anderson's direction leads us too much down obvious paths, puts unnecessary words in the characters' mouths, and plays parlour tricks during suspensful moments. A great example is when Jessie is being subjected to a search of her belongings by police. In the midst of this scene, she realizes there is evidence on her digital camera and flashes back to the moment she took the picture. The detective proceeds to flip through her pictures, one by one. The tension builds, but just before he sees the incriminating picture, there is a loud noise that causes him to look away, and conveniently hand her the camera. Moments like this just aren't necessary. Knowing that the picture is on the camera and watching the detective reach for it is worrisome enough, so the bait-and-switch just erodes suspension of disbelief. Transsiberian has too many of these contrived moments that damage its attempt to build tension.
There are some subtle psychological themes that play throughout the movie, like loyalty, passion, and truth. With nothing included on this DVD in the way of director's commentary or featurettes, viewers will have to find other places to interpret and discuss the subtext. Positive reviews of Transsiberian will come from people that desparately want more intelligence in their action movies, or more narrative in their indie films. Anderson pulls off his homage to classic thrillers, but leaves us wishing he had edited out the contrived and obvious devices that drop the I.Q. of Transsiberian quite a few points. A great winter weekend rental, given the Siberian setting. Fans of psychological thrillers from the likes of Hitchcock and Preminger will enjoy being able to sink their teeth into a cast of characters with hearts and motives colder than their frozen Russian surroundings.
