Post a Comment        E-mail To A Friend        Join The List

Gregory Hoblit, Untraceable

by Chris Flippo
01/28/2008

There are times when I regret that Athens Exchange doesn’t go by the star system. It would be a nice crutch to have when a movie comes along that neither impresses you nor insults your intelligence. Untraceable is a movie like that. When the credits started rolling, I realized that what we I had just seen was a two and half star movie. It’s a movie that I can’t quite recommend, but if it’s a rainy day and the matinee is cheap enough, why not?

Jennifer Marsh (Diane Lane) is an FBI agent who is on a task force that specializes in catching criminals on the Internet. One day she comes across a strange site that allows users to watch a person being murdered. Untraceable even has some nice social commentary, as the killer places his victims in situations that become deadlier as more people log onto the site.

Naturally, the Web site explodes in popularity. In a nice twist that the movie doesn’t fully explore, warnings the FBI gives make Internet users more curious. Any facts about the case that are released by the FBI are just promotional tools for the Web site. Of course, Jennifer understands the real threat, but no one believes her. She soon immerses herself deeper and deeper into the case until the killer turns his attention to her and her family.

Untraceable is the kind of cyber-thriller that we usually get about once a year (does anyone remember Firewall? The Net? Antitrust?). It’s a genre that was a novelty in the ’90s, but today doesn’t carry much of an impact. The movie’s musings on the internet are interesting, sure, but they’re dated. This is a movie that would have worked best when we were still on dial-up.

All that aside, this is still a decent premise for a movie. As you all know, I am usually a sucker for horror with a side of social commentary (The Mist, anyone?), but Untraceable doesn’t quite work. It feels rushed and undercooked. Had it been put back into the oven, the filmmakers could have had a nice little thriller on their hands.

Its in the small details that Untraceable goes astray. Why, for example, would the film makers want to reveal the killer so early? Yes, I understand that killers are more effective when treated as characters and not simply as answer to a whodunit. However, if the film doesn’t take the time to develop the character properly, then the reveal makes little dramatic sense.

Untraceable does get some major points for being more challenging than your average thriller, but it could have done more. I was so impressed by it than I wanted the film to take me even further. Yes, we know that people have a strange curiosity for catastrophe, but director Gregory Hoblit doesn’t explore it like he should have. The commentary is moderately effective, but it has no real bite. If you’re going to have some social relevance, that’s fine, but it should do more than just dress up a conventional thriller. This is a film that would have been most effective if it wasn’t so scared to piss people off.

As I was walking out, I looked at the Cloverfield poster and, once again, my mind started replaying the film’s events. Who was alive at film’s end? Where did the monster come from? After it was all said and done, I was entertained, frustrated, exhilarated. Untraceable, though not a bad film, won’t leave you feeling like that.

If you’re going to go, check the forecast before you go. It’s no film for a sunny day.

Name
Email
URL
Body
Are you human?