Russia is a scary place. Well, at least that’s what Brad Anderson latest film (After his “Christian Bale as a skeleton man “pseudo-horror flick The Machinist) wants me to believe. After staying in the vaults of the studio for what seems like forever, Transsiberian finally gets to see the harsh white glow of the day and we can see if this taunt thriller lives up to its Sundance buzz.After a church funded humanitarian mission, regular joe Americans Roy (Woody Harrelson) and Jessie (Emily Mortimer) decide to take the famous Russian Transsiberian train before they head back home. They’re disappointed to discover that the famous ride is more “Metal coffin” then “Decadent mode of transportation”. On the train they meet Carlos (Eduardo Noriega) and Abby (Kate Mara )a couple of world travelers who have many tales to tell but a mysterious past to hide. It all starts friendly enough, but before the trip is over our regular American protagonists will have to deal with murder, drugs and a cutthroat Russian policeman (Ben Kingsley) if they ever want to see home again.
As a snobbish moviegoer it’s my knee jerk reaction to try to spot twists a mile away: “It was the DOG all along! He wore human puppet hands to use the telephone!” The fuzzy feeling that comes from being able to say “Ha. I saw THAT one coming!” is pathetic but something I will go through time and time again. I have to give it up to Transsiberian for not only keeping me surprised throughout it’s running time, but also doing it without ever going completely over the top (“It wasn’t the dog! It was MY EVIL TWIN!”) in an attempt to get one step ahead of the audience. There’s no genre re-writing on display here. It’s nothing more then simple thriller concept that is directed, acted and orchestrated to perfection. Woody Harellson is more sympathetic then ever as the slightly out of the loop Roy while Emily Mortimer puts on a tough face as the morally conflicted Jessie. Ben Kingsley brings his usual glower to his role, but it isn’t anything we haven’t seen from his camp before. The cinematography of the infinite snow covered Russian countryside is breathtaking. Brad Anderson points the camera in such subtle ways that it almost seems as if we’re intruding on the events going on in front of the lens. The slight shaky feel to every shot on paper reads as film school rubbish, but it works on screen as we play the role of the observer. At an hour and fifty minute it runs a little long for a story that should be brisk and compact (The ‘character building’ first half could have easily been trimmed) and the wrap it all up in a bow ending was a little difficult to swallow.
After further thought, maybe not ALL Russians are bad. There has to be good non-corrupt, friendly looking, Russians that won't torture me mercilessly right? Right?
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