TRANSSIBERIAN

TRANSSIBERIAN is a literate thriller that’s also a character study.

Woody Harrelson and Emily Mortimer play Roy and Jessie, a married couple from the Midwest that’s just completed a mission trip for their church to help poor children in China. Roy’s hobby is trains, so he books them on a trip to Moscow on the Transsiberian Express.

The train is not so glamorous, however. Roy and Jessie find themselves sharing a compartment with Abbey, a young American woman, and her Spanish boyfriend, Carlos. The two couples decide to get off at one of the stops along the way, but Roy misses the train. Abbey and Carlos agree to stay with Jessie at the next stop while she waits for Roy.

Jessie seems attracted to Carlos, however, and vice versa. It also becomes clear that Carlos and Abbey may not be the sweet and innocent couple they pretend to be. [Spoilers follow] A series of unexpected twists and turns puts Roy and Jessie’s lives in danger. The danger increases when a mysterious Russian detective, played by Sir Ben Kingsley, befriends Roy on his way back to his wife.

Without giving too much away, Roy’s wife Jessie commits a major crime midway through this picture and then lies about what happened. She keeps lying about what happened even when the Russian detective keeps questioning her and threatens their lives. Yet, Roy remains the faithful husband and sticks by his wife through thick and thin.

Although the movie’s plot develops slowly, it speeds along in the second half at a tight clip. The cast does a good job as well, including Woody Harrelson, who usually plays more sleazy characters. The movie implicitly asks viewers, however, to sympathize with the troubled character of Roy’s wife, even after she keeps lying to her husband and everyone about what happened while she was waiting for Roy to return to her. Eventually, Jessie gets away with a major crime and refuses to tell her husband the truth. On the other hand, Roy’s Christian duty to his wife keeps him from pressing certain issues, even after it is clear that her silence is putting their lives in danger. The movie suggests he knows that Jessie is not telling him everything, but his love and commitment toward Jessie wins out.

Thus, media-wise viewers should have a big problem with how TRANSSIBERIAN’s story unfolds. The movie ultimately leaves it up to the audience what to think about the morality of the characters’ actions. Judging by Roy’s character, however, if Jessie revealed to her husband about the crime she commits, Roy’s Christian integrity might force him to tell the authorities. On the other hand, it could be that Roy stops pressing his wife on what happened because he values his marriage more. In other words, maybe Roy doesn’t wish to know the whole truth, because he loves his wife. Then again, Roy’s doubts about his wife involve her true relationship with Carlos. So, he seems to be trying to save his marriage by protecting his wife’s honor and fidelity to their marriage. It’s hard to say, however, if Jessie has learned her lesson about lying and getting involved with strangers.

All in all, therefore, TRANSSIBERIAN might deserve a second look, despite its problems and despite the foul language, violence and sexual ambiguity that occurs. That said, the movie’s problematic content merits a strong caution.