First, let me readily admit that while I used to be quite the cinephile, in recent years my tastes have sunk to the extreme lowbrow. My wife and I went to see Transsiberian as part of a date I took her on for her birthday. The occasion was the only reason I didn't (seriously, anyway) suggest that we go see Quarantine or the premier of Saw V instead of Transsiberian. Yes, I've sunk pretty low... :) However, especially in hindsight, I enjoyed the movie much more than I had expected to. As others have noted, there are many direct references to Hitchcock themes and techniques, and the first half of the movie builds quite slowly in order to establish the characters - which is done very well, even considering the necessary mystery surrounding a couple of the principals.
After a key series of rapid events occurs roughly midway through the film, the tension immediately ratchets up to a very thrilling level. Without spoiling anything, there are close-quarters cat-and-mouse movements on the train that are very effectively nail-biting.
I wasn't familiar with many of the female cast, nor the darkly charming Spaniard, but performances were solid all around. Woody Harrelson likely didn't have to put a huge amount of effort or training into his goofy, naive American, but Ben Kingsley, to me, absolutely made the movie with his role (again - no spoilers - see for yourself).
I disagree with other commentators about the ending leaving too much plot unexplained. It seemed to me like things were tied up quite well. The denouement is maybe almost too-quick, but I still didn't feel there were open questions to any negative effect on my opinion of the movie.
After a key series of rapid events occurs roughly midway through the film, the tension immediately ratchets up to a very thrilling level. Without spoiling anything, there are close-quarters cat-and-mouse movements on the train that are very effectively nail-biting.
I wasn't familiar with many of the female cast, nor the darkly charming Spaniard, but performances were solid all around. Woody Harrelson likely didn't have to put a huge amount of effort or training into his goofy, naive American, but Ben Kingsley, to me, absolutely made the movie with his role (again - no spoilers - see for yourself).
I disagree with other commentators about the ending leaving too much plot unexplained. It seemed to me like things were tied up quite well. The denouement is maybe almost too-quick, but I still didn't feel there were open questions to any negative effect on my opinion of the movie.