All Aboard!

In 1985, Russian filmmaker Andrei Konchalovsky made an American thriller called Runaway Train, starring Jon Voight, Eric Roberts, and Rebecca De Mornay. Set in Alaska, it tells the story of two escaped prisoners who board a locomotive only to find it unmanned and out of control. The obvious comparison would be the movie Speed (1994), but instead of an unstoppable bus in L.A., we have a train rushing at over 80 mph through arctic environments. Konchalovsky had previously co-written the Andrei Tarkovsky classics, Ivan's Childhood (1962) and Andrei Rublev (1969), and went on to direct pictures like Tango & Cash (1989) and The Odyssey (1997). Based on a screenplay by Akira Kurosawa, Runaway Train sits somewhere in the middle in terms of quality; not as sublime as the former films, nor as poor as the latter.

Jon Voight and Eric Roberts both received Oscar nominations for their work, and Voight actually won the Golden Globe for Best Actor. Unfortunately, there are patches of weak acting elsewhere in the film, the dialogue is a mixed bag, there are too many coincidences (the engineer has a heart attack, brakes “fail”, doors “jam”), and the plot features the timeless “evil prison warden” cliché. In fact, Warden Ranken (John P. Ryan) is involved in the most laughably over-the-top scene in the movie, when he attacks a poor dispatcher in the restroom. However, when Runaway Train works, it works quite nicely. The train sequences are well crafted and exciting, the snowy, mountainous landscape provides a terrific setting, and the main characters are intriguing.

It was the overall feeling of suspense, along with several powerful images of the doomed machine gliding through the white wilderness, that really stuck with me over the years. Those were the first things I recalled as I watched Transsiberian, the new film by Brad Anderson (director of Next Stop Wonderland and The Machinist). Like Konchalovky's film, Anderson's has a train, a wintry backdrop, and plenty of thrills. Still, despite the similarities, Transsiberian is a unique experience that stands on its own. It deserves to be seen, and were it not for some terrible creative choices in the last half hour, it may have been great.


The movie is about a married American couple, Roy (Woody Harrelson) and Jessie (Emily Mortimer), who have been doing humanitarian work in Beijing, China on behalf of the Christian church. With their good deeds complete, they decide to depart on the Transsiberian Express for a six day journey to Moscow, intended to satisfy both Roy's love of trains and Jessie's fondness for adventure. They end up sharing a compartment with another young couple, Carlos (Eduardo Noriega) and Abby (Kate Mara), who claim to have been teaching in Japan. During a routine stop, the two women walk about discussing their lives, while the men wander off to examine some old locomotives. Once the trip gets underway again, there is no evidence of Roy having ever gotten back on board. This is where the mystery elements begin creeping in...

It should surprise no one that passenger trains have always been fine settings for mystery stories. After all, there are a limited number of suspects, and clues are confined to a relatively small space. Alfred Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes (1938) and Sidney Lumet's so-so adaptation of Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express (1974), are two prime examples of this concept brought to life on-screen. The mystery in Hitchcock's film begins with a disappearing woman, and in Lumet's, a murder. The focus of both pictures is in reaching a solution to the mystery itself, but Transsiberian takes another route entirely.

Roy and Jessie may be married, but they are polar opposites. He is the religious one, the one who wants children; he's a “good guy” type, if a bit naive. Jessie, on the other hand, has a bad girl past, isn't particularly anxious to have kids, and though she loves Roy, she seems to desire a brief escape from the safety of their relationship. She hungers for something more dangerous and exciting. After Roy's disappearance, Anderson takes this idea and runs with it. Instead of making a whodunit, where every character would direct their efforts toward solving the mystery of the lost man, he has them assume Roy is fine. They figure he was so wrapped up in the old engines that he simply lost the time, and Carlos and Abby decide to wait for him at the next station with Jessie.

Though Carlos represents everything Jessie doesn't need, that is precisely what appeals to her, no matter how much she tries to deny it. While Roy is out of the picture, the sexual tension between them grows with each passing moment. Though Jessie has no intention of being unfaithful to her husband, she continues to put herself in situations where such a betrayal would be easy to consummate. This forbidden attraction eventually takes a chilling turn, adding another layer of suspense to the proceedings.

Unfortunately, as I mentioned, Transsiberian takes an ill-advised turn late in the game. For about an hour and twenty minutes it is one of those rare, intelligent thrillers with solid characters we grow to care about. In the last half hour though, the movie slips into familiar, hackneyed territory complete with chases, illogical decisions, and yes, even a timely train collision. I would still recommend it, but the climax does diminish the experience.

To be fair, The Lady Vanishes ends with a shootout that also seems to come out of left field, but in Hitchcock's film, it works. It may be unexpected, but at least it is enjoyable and makes sense. Hitch managed to concoct a delectable dish of great characters, mystery, and humor. It is still the definitive mystery train film, far surpassing the 1979 remake (on a side note, there is a 1989 Jim Jarmusch picture actually called Mystery Train, but it has little to do with what the title implies).

In conclusion, those on the lookout for a compelling new thriller with fine performances, shouldn't pass up Transsiberian. Its strengths outweigh its flaws, much like Runaway Train's do (these films would make for great back-to-back viewing). It isn't quite on the level of Hitchcock, but he would have certainly admired the attempt.