The story revolves around young married couple from the MidWest, Roy and Jessie (Woody Harrelson, Emily Mortimer), riding the train through Russia and Eastern Europe on vacation when they're joined by a young couple, Carlos and Abbie (Eduardo Noriega, Kate Mara), who know a lot about traveling across Europe. Carlos, a rugged good-looking Spaniard, immediately starts showing interest in Jessie, while she worries about his younger girlfriend having had a dark past on the run herself. At a stopover to change engines, Roy goes missing and we expect the worst, as Carlos uses the opportunity to make his move on Jessie when they go off together sightseeing as they wait for Roy to show up, but something happens that will plague Jessie for the rest of the film.

Anyone watching this movie without knowing much about it might expect it to turn into "Hostel" or "Wolf Creek" at any second, because as we know from watching far too many movies, Americans traveling abroad almost always get into trouble with the locals. This one's more like "L'Aventurra" meets "Dial M for Murder" as Anderson continues to proudly wear his Hitchcock influences on his sleeve, though it isn't his smartest script by a long shot, because the premise of tourists encountering drug smugglers and corrupt Russian police on a cross-country trip seems somewhat obvious and derivative. It's difficult to talk more about the plot without ruining things, because whenever you may think you know where things are going, Anderson throws a number of clever and unexpected twists that keeps you on your toes.

Anderson has also put time into developing the five main characters more than one normally might for a thriller like this, infusing them with characteristics that play a part in the larger story, such as Roy's enthusiasm for trains and Jessie's bad girl past. Anderson doesn't just foreshadow what is going to happen later as much as telegraph it with various bits of dialogue and an opening sequence with Ben Kingsley as a Russian inspector looking into a murder involving stolen drugs and money, something that seems to be forgotten until he shows up an hour into the movie.

More than anything else, "Transsiberian" is a great vehicle for the highly-underrated Emily Mortimer to finally show her stuff, as she elevates the level of suspense beyond the normal thriller once she encounters Kingsley and learns that Carlos' true intentions are far more devious than we originally assumed. Her character does a lot of dumb things that might frustrate and annoy some viewers, who may think she's getting what she deserves for making such obvious mistakes, but you still can empathize with her predicament regardless. Woody Harrelson keeps things light as her always cheerful husband Roy, a typical care-free American abroad even when he starts to realize that his wife is keeping secrets from him, while Ben Kingsley gives a convincing yet somewhat effortless performance as the tough Russian cop who isn't what he seems.

In the last half hour, things start to get somewhat ridiculous as Anderson continues to pile twist upon twist trying to build even more tension, but most of it starts to feel false and forced, especially when the film quite unexpectedly turns an action movie, causing some to question whether Anderson knew exactly where he was going when he started this train trip. Things do end on a high note with a satisfying conclusion, which will leave audiences somewhat less annoyed about some of the earlier silliness, but for the most part, the film works mainly on the performances of the cast and the Anderson's great eye for shooting the train speeding across the Russian scenery. Enjoyment may vary if you're expecting something nearly as clever or effective as Anderson's previous work.

Rating: 7/10