Review of Transiberian

The Russian mob is probably the most lethal and respected organized crime syndicate in the world, and the film Transiberian displays their merciless tactics in all their grotesque brutality in this new thriller from director Brad Anderson.

Anderson has directed episodes of The Wire and The Shield so he is familiar with crime stories. For his latest feature film, he whisks us away from the U.S. slums and away to the other side of the world, where personal rights and ideals relating to justice take on different meanings.

Woody Harrelson, (White Men Can't Jump, Natural Born Killers, Palmetto) plays Roy and Emily Mortimer (Match Point, Lovely & Amazing, Red Belt) plays Jessie, an American couple from small town U.S.A. They don’t get much more mediocre or simplistic than these two.


Roy works in a hardware store back home and the two take trips to far off places to help destitute children in need. On their way back from China, they take the ride of their life on the famous Transiberian train line that snakes through China, Mongolia and Russia.

During their seven day journey across majestic mountain settings and through blistering cold, they befriend a young couple also traveling to Moscow. They wind up sharing a sleeping cabin with Carlos, (Eduardo Noriega) and Abby, (Kate Mara).

It turns out to be a great union with both couples hanging out in the meal car, getting wasted on vodka in the early afternoon, and de-boarding the train for some educational walking tours of train graveyards.

Aside from a little sexual tension between Carlos and Jessie, everyone seems to get along well, and because quarters are so tight, it is virtually impossible to sneak off for some nookie. But Jesse realizes there is something suspicious about the older, suave and handsome Carlos and his naive girlfriend and traveling companion Abby. Neither volunteer any information about each other and their past journeys and future plans are even more mysterious.


Carlos is a slippery character. Not only does he have the hots for his new, married American friend, but he is also a drug runner. When Roy gets left behind at the previous stop by accident, Carlos sees his chance and decides to go in for the kill by tempting Jesse to indulge in some vacation promiscuity.

And then, when she is not looking, he fills her luggage with the heroine he is transporting.

Jesse doesn’t realize she is finishing up this vacation as a mule until it’s too late, but she does put an end to Carolos’ advances by clubbing him over the head in a deserted field during a train layover.


Carlos has now been transformed from a worldly con artist and narcotics trafficker into a corpse-sicle, abandoned in the desolate frozen woods. Jesse is a wreck, as this is her first murder, and has no choice but to get back on the train in the hopes of leaving all her problems behind. Roy never discovers her devilish deeds and Jesse is hoping it stays that way.

Once back on the train, minus Abby and Carlos, Roy and Jesse get a new cabin mate in the form Ilya, played by Ben Kingsley, (Gandhi, Sexy Beast, Schindler's List). It just so happens that Ilya is a detective in the narcotics division of the Russian police force. He tells his new found acquaintances that he is traveling west to attend a law enforcement conference, but he's really hot on Carlos' trail.

In Transiberian, nothing is as it seems. Throughout the world, the police are known to protect and serve, but we are talking about the Russian authorities and their methods are a bit more aggressive and intense than in more civilized societies.

Though Kingsley is reaching the twilight of his career, and looks like a sweet and generous old man, nothing could be further from the truth. His ruthlessness and cruelty go unchecked in the lawlessness of the territory. It turns out that he is in cahoots with the Russian mob and is acting as their agent to track down Carlos and locate the drugs and money he was transporting.


In order to get what he wants, Ilya will stop at nothing. When his interrogation of Jesse comes up flat, he has no problem unleashing his thug of a partner on the naïve couple.

This film depicts one of the more graphic and detailed torture scenes to date. I have seen many films and endured some revolting cinema monents, but Transiberian takes it a step further because the person enduring it all is a woman. Films like Marathon Man, Payback Casino, Passion of the Christ and Syriana all show the brutal methods mankind has developed to procure information from people unwilling to give it.

But the unwritten rule of the theater is that woman are spared this kind of treatment. Not the case with this movie. Transiberian throws this thinking straight out the window as was evidenced by the groans and screams of shock that came from the audience in the crowded theater I sat in. Women get the brunt of the hideous treatment, and males and females alike may want to cover their eyes during certain parts.

Even with these stomach turning visuals, Transiberian is an intense and fierce thriller. It keeps you on the edge of your seat but the ending is a little too predictable. It engages the audience to a remarkable degree, but the letdowns are unfortunately more memorable as the credits roll.

Harrelson seems to be making a habit of playing “ho-hum” characters because he comes off as even more dense than “Woody,” the lovable bartender from Cheers. Manuel Noriega is the real scene stealer as Carlos. Though he is only in about two-thirds of the movie, his portrayal as a learned grifter is both believable and moving.


The real marvel of this film is the locations. While a majority of it is shot on the train, the bitter cold and endless beauty of Mongolia and Russia are on full display. There is also a heightened sense of realism as we can see the breaths of the actors as they walk along the train platforms and explore their surroundings. The story is certainly believable but the naïveté of Jesse and Roy make me wonder why more American are not murdered while on holiday.

The film closely resembles the 1978 classic Midnight Express for it’s heart-pounding look at drug running, and the madness that goes along with it.

Transiberian offers many morals, but the most important one to remember is, “Don’t make friends with strangers and always be on the lookout when travelling through foreign lands.” This is a warning that Jesse and Roy learn early in the film but it requires a certain turn of events and for their lives to be put in considerable danger for them to realize the severity of being strangers in a strange land.

Two and a half out of five stars.