'Untraceable' shows curiosity can be deadly
By Taryn Lentes, Staff Writer
February 1, 2008 | 11 a.m.
In the age of MySpace, Facebook and YouTube, the Internet allows people to say or see just about anything while remaining relatively anonymous. “Untraceable” is a thriller that sets out to explore our perhaps unhealthy Web obsession.
The plot of "Untraceable" is not exactly anything that fans of the thriller genre have not seen before. A serial killer is on the loose and as more and more people go missing, it becomes apparent that the detectives investigating the crimes are in danger of becoming victims themselves.
What “Untraceable” does add to increase the suspense is the element of technology as a weapon and curious Web surfers as accomplices to the murderer’s sick and twisted crimes. Although for the most part the film does not vary much from the genre’s standard plot twists and tools to increase the suspense, this modern twist does in fact add something to the audience’s involvement in the story.
“Untraceable” focuses on Jennifer Marsh (Diane Lane), a woman who must balance her demanding career as a Portland FBI agent specializing in cyber crimes against her role as a single mother. Marsh and her partner Griffin (Colin Hanks) become pulled into a demented crime spree when someone posts a seemingly “untraceable” Web site showing murders, first of a cat and then progressing to human victims, who are killed more and more quickly as more people log on to watch.
In some ways, the people behind “Untraceable” seem unsure of what type of movie they want to make. The movie starts out feeling like a long episode of “CSI” with a dose of “Disturbia” thrown in as the FBI agents attempt to trace the Web site while remaining glued to their screens to watch the carnage unfold. However, at several points in the movie, the film suddenly turns into a graphic and hard-to-watch horror film, extremely reminiscent of “Saw” with its creative and disgusting varieties of painful deaths.
Others aspects of “Untraceable” that detract from the audience's enjoyment are distracting character inconsistencies and interactions between some of the characters. The film’s clever sidekick, Griffin, spends his days trolling the Internet to bust sexual predators and identity thieves yet spends his nights dating people he meets online.Even once it becomes apparent that whoever is running the deadly Web site is targeting members of the FBI team, Griffin still agrees to meet one such anonymous date alone, an act of stupidity that seems hard to reconcile with his brilliant skills of deduction.
Similarly, it seems forced and out of place when an implied romance begins between Marsh and a detective she has only known a few days. Apparently Detective Box (Billy Burke) knew Marsh’s deceased husband, but this is mentioned only in passing and never develops, leaving the audience to wonder why the filmmakers bothered to add the subplot between Box and Marsh at all.
Despite these flaws, “Untraceable” remains an entertaining and exciting movie. The complicated terms thrown around at the beginning of the film won’t mean anything to most viewers, but Lane rattles them off believably and adds a sense of true emotional investment to what could have been a heartless thriller.
Also adding some depth and emotion to the film is the murdering psychopath himself, Owen Reilly (Joseph Cross). Cross’ last film was “Running with Scissors,” and he brings some of that surreal yet believable emotion to this role as well. Cross keeps the murderer from coming across as flat because he plays the villain as a real character, and he makes use of his intensity to create some of the film’s scariest moments by just staring at the camera.
“Untraceable” is not the most innovative or serious movie to be released recently, but it does serve its purpose well as an entertaining, edge-of-your-seat sort of movie. Regardless of the seeming predictability of certain plot twists, the tension the audience feels when the film’s main protagonist and villain finally face off is undeniable.
Perhaps even creepier than anything that takes place in the film itself is the audience’s knowledge that the seemingly outlandish premise might not be so unbelievable. With the Internet the public can quickly access videos of fights or sex, and “Untraceable” points out one new terrifying possibility.
---
Rating: B-
Running Time: 100 minutes
MPAA Rating: Rated R for grisly violence and torture, and some language.
Genre: Thriller/Crime