Rating of
3/4
"Transsiberian" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 03/19/16
A married couple travelling on the Transsiberian Express meet with a pair of fellow travellers and their journey takes a sinister and murderous turn. Brad Anderson was responsible for the - in my opinion - overrated The Machinist which was notable mainly for the intense performance of its star Christian Bale. Thankfully, in the interim Anderson has learned a little directorial subtlety and his cunning use of misdirection constantly plays with your expectations of where the story will take you next; in the slow burning build up, you are never quite sure who is the villain and who the victim. Ben Kingsley once again provides some strong support as a coldly intense drug enforcement officer and Thomas Kretschmann's heavy of few words is suitably intimidating, but the star of the show is Emily Mortimer whose excellent turn is a perfectly pitched blend of strength and vulnerability, fear and determination. The snow adorned locations within decaying post-Soviet Union landscapes make for a beautiful yet strange and hostile setting and the story of innocents caught up in events they cannot control is clearly influenced by the works of Alfred Hitchcock, Transsiberian is not quite in their league, but thanks to some intelligent direction and quality performances it is a cut above the usual mainstream thriller fare.
