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Untraceable2008, USA
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Untraceable movie reviewposted on 31 May 2008Most of the supporting characters are underwritten. Billy Burke is a complete blank as Detective Eric Box. Just an absolute bore. Truth be told though, it's all in the writing. At least the writers are smart enough to keep Box and Marsh from engaging in some half assed romance. My hat is off to them for that. Colin Hanks brings likability to his role as Marsh's right hand man Griffin Dowd, and I'm guessing that's exactly why he was cast. His charm and affability – clearly handed down to him by his superstar dad Tom - is key, given the direction this film goes in the final act. Untraceable is tight. It moves at a brisk pace and it benefits from a quick ending. No dragged out climax. Furthermore, the ending is somewhat surprising in that we're lead to believe that a damsel in distress will be rescued by a prince in shining armor. Instead, this particular damsel proves that she can fight her own battles. In the end, Untraceable isn't exactly unwatchable, but it does miss some golden opportunities. It's too bad the film makers couldn't shake up the formulaic structure a bit. If the story structure were half as interesting as the film's premise, we might have had a winner. Untraceable movie reviewposted on 31 May 2008The new thriller Untraceable isn't horrific, shocking, or tense enough to be ranked with the likes of Hostel – a film I find myself defending far more often than not - and it isn't classy, smart, or scary enough to be mentioned in the same breath as the film it most shamelessly borrows from, Silence of the Lambs. Still, at a brisk ninety minutes, you could do a lot worse. Conceptually, Untraceable is quite unique. A crazed lunatic tortures his victims in front of a web cam, allowing those surfing the net, to view the carnage in a live feed. The big twist? The more sickos who hit the site, the faster the victim dies. Diane Lane is FBI agent Clarice Star...I mean, Jennifer Marsh. At first, she's reluctant to take the case, but since she's the one who discovered the site in the first place, she agrees to try and help put an end to this twister's wicked ways. Conceptually Untraceable is intriguing, but structurally it offers nothing but nuked leftovers. It plays like a standard serial killer movie scenario stew. Untraceable is merely a passable serial killer thriller. A cyber space morality tale in which we the curious, carnage craving public are all accessories to murder. In this respect, this latest bid for torture porn excellence wants to have it's cake and eat it too. Untraceable is telling us that this psycho is wrong in his actions, but at the same time, the movie seems to be begging us to enjoy his devilish actions. This is what sets Untraceable apart from Hostel and Saw - they have an entirely different agenda. Each starts off knowing exactly what they are, whereas, Untraceable is a bit confused. It isn't quite tense or unpredictable enough to be considered a first rate thriller and the tepid social commentary, even though occaisionally compelling, sort of gets lost in the mix. There's a severe lack of surprises in Untraceable because director Gregory Hoblit (Primal Fear, Fallen) and his screenwriters appear hellbent on telegraphing everything. It's pretty easy to figure out who might be at risk in this picture, because hints are made early on. To elaborate on this would be to ruin what few "so called" surprises this film has up it's sleeve, so I won't. Furthermore, some of the characters in Untraceable aren't terribly bright. You'd think members of the FBI would have been trained to keep their guard up. On the flip side of the coin, Untraceable does have it's share of strong attributes. The killer here has motivation, and this sets the film apart from your garden variety slasher film. The film also benefits from a bleak, unsettling tone. While a lot of this stuff isn't necessarily entertaining, it is effective. There's one sequence in particular, in which we are witness to stock footage of a suicide. Now clearly, this footage was shot for the movie, but the film makers could have fooled me. It's extremely realistic. On a final note, props to Hoblit and crew for revealing the killer early on. Untraceable doesn't become one of those cheesy whodunnit exercises in which we learn the killer is actually some one at the FBI. How stupid would that have been? The performances are hit and miss. Diane Lane is pretty good here. She injects a bit of humanity to the proceedings and she's strong without coming across as superhuman. Furthermore, there's nothing overly glamorous about Jennifer Marsh. She's a loving mother and working class woman, and she could care less about superficial things (like wearing make-up), and I really liked that about her. |
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