The Little Engine That Could...Murder You.The Little Engine That Could...Murder You By Kirk Faulkner Trains have always been a good place to kill someone. Not so much if you are the murderer (or murderee, for that matter) but if you are making a film about a murder, put the whole thing on a train and you are good to go. The combination of claustrophobic quarters, isolation from civilization and the inevitability of fast-moving transportation that can't make a U-turn makes the perfect stage for a suspenseful murder mystery. In Brad Anderson’s Transsiberian, the titular train is as important a character (and about as developed) as any of the other players in this tale of drugs, espionage and blood on the tracks. The journey on the historic tri-continental train plunging deep into the tundra of Siberia is directly tied to the characters’ decent into the darkness of the human soul. The couple is soon joined by a pair of sexy drifters, Carlos (Eduardo Noriega) and Abby (Kate Mara), two hot-blooded travelers without a care or fear in the world ... or so it seems. Jessie’s secret seems to be in immediate danger of exposure from the first moment Carlos bares his teeth in a wolfish grin. The group is later joined by Grinko (Ben Kingsley), a Russian cop seeking a stolen shipment of heroin. Grinko's character, along with the motley crew of train-dwelling Russians, serve to illustrate the idea that Russia is not just a different country, it's a different reality. Post-communism gloom hangs heavy over every train car, and the vodka flows. The characters in the film exist in that grey area between cliché and archetype with mixed success. Harrelson’s Roy is an over-the-top parody of the Innocent Abroad, while Carlos is such an obvious harbinger of doom he goes so far as to refer to himself as “the big bad wolf.” While Jessie’s character remains firmly abstract, she offers up more of a enigma for the audience to solve. She is the connection between all three characters, feeling protective toward Abby, obliged toward Roy and horny toward Carlos. Kingsley brings in a wonderfully understated performance to contrast with his wacky-professor shtick in the concurrently released "The Wackness." Fortunately for this film, it recognizes that it is more driven by plot than character. As with the train, the path is set and we are just along for the ride. Transsiberian is now playing in theaters Posted on 07/18/08 by: FCFeatures 
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