Untraceable
For all its cyber-savvy talk of botnets and backdoor Trojans, "Untraceable" still manages to feel dated.
It's a warmed-over suspense thriller that's more disturbing than it is surprising or scary. Then again, it does have lovely Diane Lane, so a fresh dramatic premise could be considered an optional accessory.
Gregory Hoblit ("Fracture," "Primal Fear") directs the handiwork of writers Allison Burnett ("Autumn in New York"), Robert Fyvolent, and Mark R. Brinker. Their screenplay begins as something familiar but promising: There's a serial killer on the loose, this time terrorizing Portland, Ore., with a decidedly 21st-century M.O.
The predator tortures his prey on camera, escalating the violence with every person who clicks on his website to watch. When his site reaches a predetermined amount of traffic, the victim - be it a kitten stuck to the floor or a bound man bleeding out from an overdose of heparin - meets a gruesome, untimely end in front of millions of viewers.
Outrageous? Absolutely.
Possible? As the movie pointedly notes, technology already lets us download weather reports, check stock quotes, and "see a journalist get his head cut off." Consider the number of cellphones recently used to capture actor Heath Ledger's body being removed from his apartment in a body bag. If there's a limit to voyeurism and bad taste, it's at least open for discussion. And that's where "Untraceable" could have launched into some truly innovative storytelling.
Instead, it chooses to roll out a standard tale of revenge, with an overworked single mom (when will they get their priorities straight?) at its center.
Lane plays Special Agent Jennifer Marsh, a dedicated member of the FBI's fast-growing cyber-crimes division. Her young partner (Colin Hanks) is equally dedicated, and just sketchy enough to make you think he might be moonlighting as the bad guy. You don't have to wonder long, though, because the killer is revealed less than an hour into the movie. From there, it's all about connecting the dots and stopping the madness before the next victim is Marsh herself.
If you don't know how this ends, you don't watch enough TV.
Marsh gets help from a handsome police detective (Billy Burke) who brings her dinner when she's forced to take refuge in a motel. And even though she conveniently misplaces her brain for most of the movie's silly final act, she regains it just in time to (spoiler alert) rescue herself from the whirling jaws of death in a manner that would make any of Charlie's Angels proud.
Hoblit and veteran cinematographer Anastas Michos try to darken the proceedings by giving us nocturnal characters and Portland at its grayest. But it's window dressing, just like the layers of computer geek-speak that can't disguise an analog-age plot.
"Untraceable" is neither suspenseful nor thrilling, and it's also not grisly or twisted enough for fans of mainstream torture porn.
It does have Diane Lane, though.
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