Transsiberian

Transsiberian is a taut thriller that moves like the train for which it is named: once it gets some momentum going it just keeps barreling forward until it reaches the end of the line.

Like many good thrillers, Transsiberian takes you on a complex journey with plenty of surprising twists along the way. There were a few times when the film telegraphed its next move a bit too much, but those moments paled in comparison to all the times I, as even a fairly savvy viewer, was caught off guard by where the story went. I remember distinctly being sure the movie was setting up one kind of twist only to have it completely turned on its head a scene or two later, with a totally different way of upping the tension being introduced in between.

When it comes to the acting, the stand out performance is from Emily Mortimer. Her character’s role as a good woman with a wicked past is key to making the twists, or possibility of twists, work as each dubious choice and crafted lie feels natural coming from Mortimer’s character, completely sold by her performance. Woody Harrelson was good as the amiable husband who loves trains but as the movie shifted towards the more serious I don’t know if his performance rose to the task. The one performance I really didn’t like was Eduardo Noriega. His character is supposed to be smooth and charming, a necessary trait to sell his shifting relationships with the various other people on the train, but to me he came across as smarmy and unlikable, like a used car salesman trying to sell you his vagabond lifestyle, who’s appeal was more Spanish exoticism than genuine charisma.

The biggest issue I have with the film, however, is that the tension is actually too high and too sustained. Something true masters of suspense understand is that you have to give the audience a respite from the sense of impending doom or it can be overwhelming. For example, in North by Northwest just before the famous scene with the crop duster there are quiet moments as Cary Grant’s Thornhill travels to the meeting place and waits for his contact that will never arrive. For a more contemporary example, even though Children of Men had me literally on the edge of my seat from the second act twist, there are moments where the action halts, such as the mid-battle tracking shot, that give the audience some time to breathe. There are no such reprieves in Transsiberian.

Instead, each time you think you are going to get a break, it immediately pivots that moment into something, a shot, a character action, or a line, that either ups or sustains the tension that was already there. This actually made the movie hard for me to watch because the stress I was feeling on behalf of the characters was becoming unbearable.

While nothing about the movie blew me away, I was thoroughly entertained throughout its runtime. The story kept me on my toes and having the setting be a combination of a claustrophobic train and barren Russian tundra, complete with pervasive language barrier, really help to amplify the sense that those characters are alone and must solve their problems on their own, despite the abundance of cops, train crew, and fellow travelers. I just wish it could have eased off the tension a bit, here and there, so that my vicarious anxiety wasn’t put into overdrive.

Would Recommend: If you like a story so taut the edges are fraying.

Would Not Recommend: If you are not in good health and/or suffer from high blood pressure, heart, back, or neck problems, motion sickness, or other conditions that could be aggravated by this movie. Expectant mothers should not watch.