Untraceable (2008)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Gregory Hoblit

Writers (WGA):

Robert Fyvolent (screenplay) &
Mark Brinker (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

25 January 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

A cyber killer has finally found the perfect accomplice: You.

Plot:

FBI agent Jennifer Marsh is tasked with hunting down a seemingly untraceable serial killer who posts live videos of his victims on the Internet. As time runs out, the cat and mouse chase becomes more personal.

Plot Keywords:

Serial Killer | Website | Murder | Internet | Video

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Diane Lane	...	Jennifer Marsh
Billy Burke	...	Detective Eric Box
Colin Hanks	...	Griffin Dowd
Joseph Cross	...	Owen Reilly
Mary Beth Hurt	...	Stella Marsh
Peter Lewis	...	Richard Brooks
Tyrone Giordano	...	Tim Wilks
Perla Haney-Jardine	...	Annie Haskins
Tim De Zarn	...	Herbert Miller (as Tim deZarn)
Christopher Cousins	...	David Williams (as Chris Cousins)
Jesse Tyler Ferguson	...	Arthur James Elmer
Trina Adams	...	Female Cop #3
Brynn Baron	...	Mrs. Miller
John Breen	...	Richard Weymouth
Dan Callahan	...	Trey Restom

Also Known As:

Streaming Evil (USA) (original script title)

MPAA:

Rated R for grisly violence and torture, and some language.

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

UK:18 | USA:R (certificate #43915) | Netherlands:16 | Singapore:NC-16 | Ireland:18 | Australia:MA | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Philippines:R-13 (MTRCB) | Sweden:15 | Canada:16+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Israel:18 | France:-16 | South Korea:18 | Taiwan:R-18 | Germany:16 | Japan:R-15 | Argentina:18 | New Zealand:R18 | Austria:14 | Denmark:15 | Portugal:M/18 | Italy:VM14

Filming Locations:

3712 SE Carlton Street, Portland, Oregon, USA

Company:

Cohen / Pearl Productions

Trivia:

Colin Hanks' serial-dater character mentions Peggy the secretary as an upcoming date. This is a nod to Hanks' appearance on "Mad Men" (2007) - Hanks plays Father John Gill, a priest who becomes acquainted with Peggy the secretary (played by Elisabeth Moss).

Goofs:

Continuity: In the scene where Marsh is describing how the killer penetrated her wireless network, she launches the "Horsez" game on her daughter's computer. The taskbar clearly belongs to Windows XP, but the window that pops up is styled like a Vista Aero window.

Quotes:

Annie Haskins: Mom, there's a video of our house on the computer!

Movie Connections:

References Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988) (VG)

Soundtrack:

Clementine

Another Below-Average Typical Thriller

While it has some effective cinematography and nice-to-look-at high-tech, 'Untraceable' is nothing but a typical snuff thriller. The characters are all clichéd, unintelligent and, with the exception of Hanks's Griffin and Diane's Jennifer they lack dimension. The plot is predictable and uninteresting. The story suffers from too many plot holes. The ending is funny (though the director's intention was clearly something other than drawing laughter from the viewer). It's very funny how the director portrays all American internet surfers to be thirsty for a glimpse of torturous death. Among the plus points, Diane Lane performs well (but her character is the typical crime-fighting single mom/widow which one has seen in n number of movies. Colin Hanks gives a natural performance but one wonders why an actor of his calibre chose to play a less significant role in a below-average thriller. The same question applies to Ms. Lane. Billy Burke is abysmally wooden and his dialogue delivery is laughable especially when he swears. The swearing, while adding to another movie stereotype where the coppers swear a lot, feels too forced. Joseph Cross horribly plays the typical teen psycho. There's really nothing else to say. 'Untraceable' has nothing to offer. The only thriller concerning snuff movies that is of high quality is Amenabar's 'Tesis' and 'Untraceable' is nowhere near that.