‘Transsiberian’ | 3 stars
By ROBERT W. BUTLER
The Kansas City Star
“Transsiberian” isn’t in the class of “Murder on the Orient Express” or “The Lady Vanishes,” films that mixed railroads and mystery to lasting effect.
But this diverting effort from writer/director Brad Anderson (“The Machinist,” “Next Stop Wonderland”) is a generally satisfying fish-out-of-water thriller in which two squeaky-clean Americans — Christian missionaries, no less — find themselves caught up in a web of death, drugs and disappearances.
Roy and Jessie (Woody Harrelson, Emily Mortimer) are returning to the U.S. after a stint as aid workers in China. Roy, who runs a hardware store in Iowa and is a hard-core fan of railroading, decides that instead of flying they should take the Trans-Siberian Express. It will be a weeklong train journey from China through the frozen steppes of the former Soviet Union.
For gee-whiz Roy, everything about the trip is a big adventure, from the cramped quarters to trackside graveyards of abandoned coal-burning engines to the surly staff, who take advantage of the couple’s ignorance of Russian to insult them at every opportunity.
These innocents abroad are befriended by another couple, the largely silent Abby (Kate Mara) and her sexy, chatty Spanish boyfriend, Carlos (Eduardo Noriega). They all share a compartment, and Jessie is immediately on her guard — the boyish Carlos has a wandering eye.
When Roy is left behind at one of the many stops on the journey, Emily decides to wait in the next town until he can join her. Carlos and Abby opt to stay with her.
And then things go really bad.
Bad like seduction, an attempted rape, murder, a backpack full of toys filled with heroin, a money belt containing thousands in euros and — most disturbing of all, a Russian narcotics cop (Ben Kingsley) who isn’t quite what he seems.
We experience “Transsiberian” largely through the eyes of Jessie, who at first seems meek and unassertive. But as we learn more about her past we realize that for Jessie, marriage to Roy has meant salvation in more than the spiritual sense. Before finding religion she was a party girl on a downward spiral fueled by sex, drink and drugs.
Sharing a compartment with a carnal couple like Abby and Carlos reminds her of her shady past … and offers some dangerous temptations.
We’ve seen Mortimer recently in supporting roles in films as diverse as Woody Allen’s “Match Point,” “The Pink Panther” opposite Steve Martin and as a Minnesota housewife in “Lars and the Real Girl.” “Transsiberian” is an opportunity for the English actress to hold down a film on her own. She’s good at saying a lot without saying a lot.
Harrelson is solid as the aw-shucks Roy, essentially a grown-up kid. Mara and Noriega are suitably mysterious as the compartment mates. And Kingsley gives yet another complete performance that essays everything from Old World charm to flat-out evil.
Anderson’s screenplay isn’t deep — what you see is pretty much what you get. But he knows how to crank up the suspense to almost unbearable levels, and his use of the train, a self-contained world 100 yards long and only 10 feet wide, is skin-crawlingly claustrophobic.
Ultimately “Transsiberian” leaves a few too many strands untied to be completely satisfying. But given the sad state of American thrillers in recent years, we should take advantage when a decent one comes down the track.
‘TRANSSIBERIAN’ ★★★
Director: Brad Anderson
Cast: Emily Mortimer, Woody Harrelson, Kate Mara, Eduardo Noriega, Ben Kingsley
Rated: R for for torture, sexuality and language; some dialogue in Russian with subtitles
Running time: 1:51
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