Release Date: July 18, 2008 MPAA Rating: R Genre: Thriller •
Drama Director: Brad Anderson Writers: Brad Anderson, Will Conroy Cast: Woody Harrelson, Emily Mortimer, Kate Mara, Eduardo Noriega, Ben Kingsley, Thomas Kretschmann Synopsis: A Trans-Siberian train journey from China to Moscow becomes a thrilling chase of deception and murder when an American couple encounters a mysterious pair of fellow travelers. The Review: Here's one of those hidden gems you've probably never heard of. I know I didn't a few scant weeks ago. But put it on your radar, ditch the sandals for snow shoes and prepare for a cold thriller.
The bulk of the film is contained to the train, but escapes the rails long enough to let you shake any Closter-phobia and take in some gorgeous visuals. The look of the movie itself is just stunning taking you from stark white vastness to gritty dirty rail cars. As the story moves on the actors look worse for wear as they make this trek, you know how it is after days of travel you just have this worn out look and sheen to the skin that says “wash me”. They do a wonderful job keeping the details of realism in check and a part of the story.
On screen the mystery unravels as Roy (Woody) and Jessie (Emily) encounter some fellow travelers and things start to go off the rails. Roy is a god fearing man who pretty much has his head up his ass and a hard on for trains. He’s a man of simple pleasures and he’s just happy the way he sees the world. Jessie on the other hand is a restless spirit who is struggling with the pressures of wifehood and the thought of planting down roots when there’s so much of the world to see and do.
It’s pretty clear right off the bat that something about Carlos (Eduardo) and Abby (Kate) doesn’t add up, but it’s hard to tell what it might be. A lot of the tension is built upon the isolation of being so deep into a foreign country where few speak the language, so when things really go wrong it’s like screaming in a room of deaf people who don’t like you.
The overall theme of the film is clearly stated in the poster “You can’t escape your lies” Not the lies you tell or even the lies you tell yourself. Eventually everything catches up to Roy and Jessie in the form of Grinko (Ben) a narcotics agent on the trail of Carlos and Abby. It’s one of the best performances I’ve seen from Sir Ben in a while, he seems quite natural with the dialect and accent (to my ears anyway).
While this is no Agatha Christie type of thriller on a train, the moments of dread and tension are real and really drive this one home.
