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Rated: R
Starring: Diane Lane, Billy Burke, Colin Hanks, Joseph Cross, Mary Beth Hurt
Directed by: Gregory Hoblit, David Rosenbloom
Untraceable, a very crafty film starring Diane Lane, turns web browsing into realistically disturbing mind games. I was deeply captivated by the plot and grossed out by the gory deaths. The film is not for the faint of heart or youngsters. If you liked Silence of the Lambs and its sequels, then this may be your kind of flick.
An Internet-savvy serial killer has set up an online site that is virtually untraceable by the FBI. He is killing his victims with the help of
site visitors. As a web surfer logs on
to the website, an electrical charge sets off a mechanism that administers the
death process. The more hits on the site
the faster the killing process goes.
The
special FBI investigative team's lead agent Jennifer Marsh (Lane) has been stumped
on ways to catch the psycho, and the death toll has been rising, along with the
popularity of the site. However, in a
series of clues pulled off the killer’s site during consecutive deaths, a
suspect seems to be emerging—or so
Marsh thinks.
Lane is
perfect as the FBI agent who gets baffled by the strange game the killer plays
to attract visitors to his Internet domain.
Her forceful counter attack in a pivotal scene of the film reminded me
of Jennifer Garner’s explosiveness in 2007’s The Kingdom, and with as much
energy.
Although
the story's progression is somewhat predictable, the intrigue
is ever present with heart-thumping action moving it along.
The keen direction by Hoblit (Hart’s War and TV’s NYPD) shows in Untraceable as he kept me guessing until the reason for the Internet killings were
revealed.
The downside comes with
the believability of not being able to get a major arm of the government to
assist the FBI with their high tech computers.
For me it put somewhat of a damper on the credibility of the film’s
"Internet" focus. But, hey, it’s only
entertainment, not a computer science class.
FINAL ANALYSIS: Untraceable is a good
suspenseful crime drama for those who like gory serial killer films that evoke
emotional anxiety.
This Reviewer's Rating:   3 / 5
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