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Untraceable
Live by technology. Die by
technology. Any of us who wrap our lives and work around computers understand
that theory. We have all been burned by the
crashing of our system just
before we hit the save button and our hours of hard work are gone forever.
And what did we do before the internet? How did
we ever find directions
or
information? Show times, ticket sales, eBay, Amazon, DVD rentals etc. For
many of you, simply reading this review is
possible only by the World
Wide Web. Needless to say it has made our lives simpler. But what of the
negative? What about that voyeuristic door that has opened up for all of
us to see and hear everything ever imaginable? It has fed our craving for
carnage and desensitized our shock meter. There is a
passage in the book of Revelations
which says, "And for three and a half days, all peoples, tribes, languages,
and nations will come to stare at their bodies." 20 years ago the notion
that everyone everywhere could witness the same thing at the same time
was inconceivable. But is it now? We
are a society that must
experience it all. We must see it. Feel it. Live it. And to what end?
The new psychotic film Untraceable
touches
on this subject in a cat and mouse crime thriller. Jennifer Marsh (Diane
Lane) is a single mom by day and
FBI agent by night. Her
task is discovering and busting internet predators, scam artists, hackers
and thieves. Her world is truly web wide. When she
gets a tip about a website
streaming live coverage of murder victims it is a race against the clock
for her, agent Griffin Dowd (Colin Hanks) and Detective Eric Box (Billy
Burke) to save each new victim. Plus, the killer is using society's curiosity
as an accomplice. The more viewers his site receives, the faster the death
of his victim. This adds an eerie twist in the fact that the numbers go
up,
even with human life at stake.
I liked this movie in the
fact that although there are plot holes and gray areas the characters and
direction make up for them allowing for a thrilling movie experience. Though
not in the league of Silence of the Lambs there are elements of
it present in this film. They also borrowed from the box of tricks you
would find in the SAW series. Add to this a killer who could have easily
had the last name Bates and you get the makings of a top notch, skin crawling,
stomach turning crime flick. Owen Reilly (Joseph Cross) is the perfect
movie psycho. His soft spoken demeanor and average Joe next door features
add to the creep factor of his character. The ensemble cast fits nicely.
No one stands out as unbelievable. As mentioned there are holes in this
story like any piece of fiction. When dealing with technology you can always
make it do what ever is needed to fit the storyline. But that is the fun
of it. We deal with the foreshadowing and obvious details in order to experience
the ride.
Untraceable is rated
R for grisly violence and torture, and some language. Though not as gruesome
as SAW it still has moments of prolonged violent
images and the twisted mind
of a serial killer. The gore is at a minimum and not overdone. The language
too is tame for R Rated films and is not thrown
around gratuitously. Mentally
this film is grand in the way it shines a light on our society and where
we are heading as a culture. Our need to see
things and the lack of regard
for human suffering when compared to rationalizations of freedom. We think
we deserve to be able to experience whatever we want, and still be immune
from repercussion. I never thought about it much until seeing this film.
Then driving to work today the news anchor on the radio was talking about
a terrible crime caught on tape and was quick to add, with a shine in her
voice, ".and you can see a clip of this tape on our website." I give Untraceable
3.5 out of 5 webcams. It is a strong film in this genre and one of the
better thrillers of late.
Matt Mungle ((1/23/08)
Matt is a member of the North
Texas Film Critics Association (NTFCA) and co-hosts a weekly radio feature,
The Mungles on Movies, with his wife Cindy.
For additional reviews,
interview clips and great DVD giveaways, visit the website www.mungleshow.com
Review copyright 2008 Mungleshow
Productions. Used by Permission.
Click below to go behind
the scenes and hear from Diane Lane, Billy Burke and Colin Hanks as they
talk about this film.
www.mungleshow.com/untraceable_cast.mp3
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