"Transsiberian" is directed by Brad Anderson, who directed one of my favorite films of all time, "Session 9", which is a FANTASTIC psychological thriller that should get Anderson huge props due to the fact that he actually manages to get a good performance out of David "Sunglasses and One-Liners = High Drama" Caruso . Anderson also directed "The Machinist", which, much like "Transsiberian", is totally awesome until the end, which is really my only issue with an otherwise taut suspense film.
The story follows an American couple, played by Woody Harrelson and Emily Mortimer, who board the famous Transsiberian line which travels from Beijing to Moscow. I absolutely love Harrelson in this role; he plays a bumbling, wide-eyed tourist with the innocence of a kid, to much hilarity. It's soon revealed that the two have some marital issues; she used to be a wild child who was tamed by church-loving Harrelson, and the taming isn't going as smoothly as either would like. When they meet their cabin mates, the Spanish sex machine Carlos and his gothy runaway girlfriend, Abby, the suspense gets thick. It turns out that Carlos and Abby are transporting drugs, and inevitably the American couple gets all embroiled in the mess, with much blood and violence ensuing.
It's a great film, up until the very very last ten minutes or so, where it seems as if Brad Anderson just had no more gas left and called it in. He did this with "The Machinist" as well, and as a fan of his work, I'm hoping he manages to work this issue out. "Transsiberian" is still a really great film, with fantastic performances from all actors involved, and I can't wait to see more from Anderson...definitely give this one a rental.
