Transsiberian

The worst thing about Alfred Hitchcock’s death was that it meant he couldn’t make any more movies. Also, he was dead, which was sad. But I think it’s the movies that most of us will miss. With Transsiberian, director Brad Anderson and writer (and Tucsonan) Will Conroy cook up all the ingredients for a Hitchcockian thriller (a train, hidden motives, sordid pasts, plot twists, murder, smuggling, another train) with great precision. Woody Harrelson and Emily Mortimer star as Christian missionaries riding the Trans-Siberian Express. There, they meet the mysteriously shady Abby (Kate Mara) and Carlos (Eduardo Noriega), who may or may not be up to something dire. The whole thing is very neatly concocted and has that rare quality of becoming increasingly captivating as it progresses. Also, cinematographer Xavi Giménez should get a special award for doing what cinematographers are supposed to do: being informative, adding to the mood, using the camera to capture and create character, and understanding the difference between serving the film and showing off.