Movie Review: Transsiberian

A nice try, but should have been sent back to the old drawing board

Brad Anderson scored in 2004 with his indie film The Machinist. Now, when I say "scored" I don't mean the film that generated a mere $1 million at the box-office found its way into the hearts of millions, but it was a film that put Anderson on the map as it told a deeply engaging dark story and generated a reaction from its audience. Anderson showed talent as a director, which made me genuinely interested in his next film, Transsiberian, which touted a cast made up of Woody Harrelson, Emily Mortimer, Kate Mara, Thomas Kretschmann and Ben Kingsley. That's some real talent and worthy of a once over.

Depending on your level of anticipation and curiosity, this is a film that can generate several reactions. Folks can come away riveted as there are several twists to the narrative often giving viewers something more to think about on a multitude of emotional levels. However, you can also come away frustrated depending on how deeply you engage yourself with the logic of it all. I came away just shy of disappointed as the film never really jumped off the screen, but kept me asking questions the whole way. Oftentimes these questions were logical, which accounts for my disappointment, but the occasional moral dilemma made it mildly interesting.

The story focuses on American travelers Roy and Jessie (Harrelson and Mortimer) as they take the long way home from Asia aboard the Trans-siberian Express train from Beijing to Moscow. Once aboard they get chummy with their bunkmates Carlos and Abby (Eduardo Noriega and Mara), a pair of Western travelers who appear to be just heading home. After a rather foreboding opening sequence involving Ben Kingsley as a Russian detective investigating a dead body and whispers of drug trafficking the audience already knows what is up within moments of the two couples meeting, which pretty much ruins the suspense, but you stick with it hoping there is something more. That "something more" often ends up being frustration as a series of coincidences result in Roy and Jessie becoming separated and a wintery journey with Jessie and Carlos on their own. Things happen and people get scared. What comes next is rather predictable, but there are just enough surprises to keep you mildly engaged and not entirely regretting your time spent watching the half-baked story unfold.

Anderson definitely knows how to shoot a film and the picture is beautiful as it all plays out against the snowy backdrop of the Russian countryside. However, the story has too many kinks in it to keep an intelligent viewer engaged. This is a plot driven story asking audiences to take active participation and get involved on an emotional level and when the characters on the screen, who don't come off as complete idiots, begin to do things no rational thinking person would do it hurts the overall effect.

I believe Anderson still has that breakout film in his future, but this just isn't it. There is enough here to keep him as a director actors should be inspired to work with, but I think, if anything, this film (in which he co-wrote with Will Conroy) proves he should stick solely with directing and leave it to others to piece together his narrative.

C-