An incredibly slow and uneventful start that leads to everyone acting completely out of character just so the story has somewhere to go, and it all hinges on the lead being an idiot.

Not good.

There were a few good moments (the disposing of the camera bag scene is like something straight out of Hitchcock), but for the most part, I couldn't get into it. If the hero did one smart thing, the *entire* rest of the movie would never happen. Therefore, I didn't care about anything that happened after that point because I couldn't not think about how easy it was to avoid.

If your story requires a full hour of set-up and then a bunch of downright dumb decisions by your main characters, perhaps you're telling the wrong story.

Letterboxd Festival 4

It's a real shame Brad Anderson's career hasn't gone in more interesting directions since the solid Session 9 and The Machinist because this, just like his latest film, was pretty poor. Hitchcock is obviously the major reference point but the film feels like an amalgamation of bits from far better movies clumsily stitched together. The whole thing was rather dull and predictable until you get to the final third which was a cop out and made me dislike the film even more.

The location has plenty of potential but is largely wasted and it never makes good use of the foreboding landscape. The performances are passable with Mortimer being the one genuine bright spot but they deserved better material than this.

The fourth film of the Letterboxd Festival

Poor Woody. He is so awesome in everything. They should have focused more on him. But he was great with what he got. Emily Mortimer was also very good but her character was not very likeable at all. Had a hard time with some of her scenes because what she did or didn't do was just stupid. But then Woody came and saved the day for me.

Fourth film of the Letterboxd film festival

This film is let down by a predictable final act in which the director is navelgazing at his script and forgets he is making a film.

There is an enormous amount of good stuff here as well though. The acting is great and the sense of paranoia palpable, which makes this a more than decent thriller which I enjoyed quite a bit.

Such a strange movie. Unlikable characters and overly drawn-out scenes interspersed with real suspense. The final act (and, in particular, scene) somehow makes up for the parts that I wanted to fast-forward through.

Good Lord, what a slog.

The spin up to the actual "excitement" of this "thriller" could be seen as character development...if the character development was anything more than exactly what the people portrayed themselves to be.

There is some mild tension once, ahem, this train gets rolling, but I have seen Strangers on a Train and you, sir, are no Strangers on a Train!

Brad Anderson le gusta dirigir thrillers en donde nada es lo que parece (su cinta previa fue la excelente "The Machinist", con Cristian Bale). En "Transsiberian" lentamente nos atrapa en una historia con giros tan diabolicos e impredescibles que al final podemos agradecer que supo manejar la tension habilmente sin perder de vista a los personajes (Emily Mortimer da la mejor actuacion).
Con ecos de Hitchcock, "Transsiberian" es un buen thriller para aquellos que prefieran una cinta de suspenso inteligente y atmosferica.

I wanted to like this much more than I actually did. A classic slow-burn set up, some great tension and unexpected turns and then.. it descends into an irritating and inconsistent mess. Very unfortunate, as the first half was right up my street.

With such a great cast (Woody Harrelson, Ben Kingsley, Kate Mara) I was expecting something a bit high caliber in terms of plot, predictability, and intensity and at times this movie felt like it was trying to copy Strangers on a Train. I simply just liked this, despite the relatively slow start and unrealistic ending. I wouldn't recommend it, but I wouldn't say avoid it.

The film was wonderfully crafted and acted - My only issue was with the writing. The plot points felt forced and contrived, and the dialogue was quite hammy at points. Thankfully, the dialogue's shortcomings is obscured by the great actors delivering it. Overall, it's a recommendation to people who are Mystery/Thriller fans, but I struggle to give it the thumbs up to those who aren't.

Quality thriller. It's nice to see Woody Harrelson in a role where he isn't the tough guy. Also I think Ben Kingsley has played almost every nationality in his career.