TransSiberian (2008)

To me, this movie is perfection.

i must have seen a different film!!

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

I'm absolutely flabbergasted at the high rating Transsiberian has gotten. Predictable, dull, stupid are just some of the adjectives I would use this describe this "thriller" of a movie. Have people not seen any actually good thrillers? Have they not seen any Hitchcock thrillers? You're supposed to sympathize with Emily Mortimer's character, Jessie, as she commits faux pas after faux pas. You know which types of characters are super hard to identify and empathize with? Stupid characters. Jessie, you're afraid of blood stains on your jacket and mittens and yet you conveniently forget you have photographic evidence which places you at the same spot you killed Carlos? Also, how hard is it to lose a backpack on a train? Hello. Earth to Jessie! The biggest unanswered question is how her train wreck of a husband could have forgotten to board the train when we saw he was wandering around with Carlos, who looked too pleased at the sight of portable metal to thrash him with. And you're telling me he missed the train and then shows up alive and well? The one iota of suspense I had over this movie was trying to figure out what/why the husband had planned with Carlos for his precious wife, because no one can be that daft and forget to board the train, right? WRONG. Now that would have been a twist! It's hard to sympathize with idiots. Only watch this if you want to laugh at stupid people and stupid decisions. There are far better movies that take place on a train.

(46%) An oddly unlikeable Russian set thriller that fails to draw out enough intrigue from a plot that should have had it by the bucket load. This may have a good cast and a bit of money behind it, but it's more Roger Corman than it is Alfred Hitchcock, yet no one told the editor so this is a good twenty or so minutes too long. On a plus side this is largely still a decent watch. The direction is fine, the performances are better than the script deserves, and there are much worse thrillers out there. By the end what your left with is a simple time-passer that has strokes of quality but will struggle to last in the memory banks for very long, if at all.

Definitely something different, not your classical American crime movie. The movie really succeeded at making the atmosphere very intense, especially, when Jessie tried to dump the drugs somewhere multiple times. The movie felt very real, nothing too super shocking to make it look like a fantasy world, that's what was great about the movie. Really felt like i was in Russia while watching the movie. And of course - Ben Kingsley speaking Russian :D What can be better for a movie, although, if you can speak Russian, in my case, i found it very funny how he tried to pronounce all the words :D Nowhere close to Russian accent, but that's OK, everyone will forgive Ben Kingsley, of course, since his performance was great in this movie.

An international cast and a beautiful and stylish first hour... we're off to more than a good start. Unfortunately things are quite predictable at times and the eventual conclusion, when the train is brought to the desolate area, made me wonder if Carlos' steps hadn't been easier to trace, and much earlier on as well? Or was it necessary to get that torture scene in there? Also, the use of semi-profound one-liners was working counterproductive. Again, a bit of a disappointment by Brad 'The Machinist' Anderson, even if that first hour is very much okay. An extra kudos to Emily Mortimer; well played and wonderful charisma.6 out of 10.