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Overall Rating : 6.5/10
Directed By : Gregory Hoblit
Diane Lane (Unfaithful)
Billy Burke (Fracture)
Colin Hanks (Orange County)
Ron Seymour
Supplied By : Sony Pictures
Film Reviewed By : Rick L. Blalock
Date Reviewed : May. 15, 2008
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| PLOT Within the FBI there exists a division dedicated to investigating and prosecuting criminals on the internet. Welcome to the front lines of the war on cybercrime, where special Agent Jennifer Marsh and Griffin Dowd have seen it all until now. A tech-savvy internet predator is displaying his graphic murders on his own website and the fate of each of his tormented captives is left in the hands of the public: the more hits his site gets, the faster his victims die. When this game of cat and mouse becomes personal, Marsh and her team must race against the clock to track down this technical mastermind who is virtually untraceable. | ||||
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| THE REVIEW Over the last few years, numerous films have been released that capitalize on the torture of others, as mentioned many times before, these types of films have since been coined with the name "torture porn. We have seen it all, from people being tortured in various traps, to pets dying grisly deaths as well, but in UNTRACEABLE, instead of trying to be overboard shocking, in twists these scenarios within a more "common happening" and streamlined approach. Part CSI, UNTRACEABLE creates a cleverly twisted revenge story out of two things that are equally as popular these days, the latest technology and reality Television, all the while still capitalizing on the torture film trend. But with that said, I may have you expecting something out of the SAW playbook, and even though the film does feature a serial killer killing his victims in torturous ways, this element is only the film's partial focus as most of it focuses on a cat and mouse game between Jennifer Marsh and the killer Owen Reilly. In UNTRACEABLE FBI Cyber-crimes Agent Jennifer Marsh and her younger partner Griffin Dowd, make stopping various online predators and cyber-crimes part of everyday routine on the job - but little do they know that they were about to meet an enigmatic online terrorist like no other. In a tip, Marsh decides to look into a mysteriously untraceable website called "killwithme.com", as the site is suspected of some unorthodox behavior, and as Marsh probes farther into the investigation she finds the suspicions to be true. On the site, the host shamelessly serves up his latest victims to a fast growing online audience - the catch is, that the more visitors that the site achieves...the faster the victim dies, much to the killer, and viewers' enjoyment. Jennifer Marsh and partner, Dowd have faced all types of online menaces, but this one seems to be ahead of them in every step they take when trying to eliminate him, they delete the server - he comes right back under a different IP address and so on. For her close involvement in discovering the predator, the force appoints Marsh as the head of the investigation, although she is just a single Mother trying to raise her Daughter. She unwillingly takes the case and quickly indulges into catching a killer, who at the time, was faceless. But faceless he wouldn't be for long, as soon the case would become that much more personal when the killer, who is eventually named to be Owen Reilly captures Griffin Dowd and targets Marsh's own family. I can't really say that UNTRACEABLE is all that original, because after all, i've already mentioned how it is obviously influenced by films like SAW and the like. But with two things like reality TV and technology booming these days, you can't be truly surprised that a film now has come along and somehow combined the two - but the end result isn't as cheesy as you'd expect it do be. Remember when the internet and all of it's "goodies" were just becoming popular, mostly when it came to teens? Parents were cautious on what their kids were seeing and doing on the web, most of those things involving Porn or chat rooms. Yes, cases did(and still do) arise where young teens were abducted by someone they met online. and many movies(Dee Snider's STRANGELAND and EVERY MOTHER'S WORST FEARto name a couple), were made on the subject. I'm not sure, but i'd say that nowadays, we aren't so cautious, which makes the possibility of the subject matter of this film happening in reality even more possible, just think, a person with the use of a simple backdoor Trojan could possibly have your life right in the palm of the hand(or more correctly, at their fingertips). UNTRACEABLE as a film, might not be the best written of it's type, it's not very complex, nor does it have many surprising elements, but the one thing it has going for it, is that it is in touch with reality. Because the truth is, no matter how much we'd like to that that our country is morally sound, if someone out there were actually to do this, there is no doubt that millions would look on excitedly, just as they do with many of the reality shows that air today, although they are blatantly scripted. What I liked most however about UNTRACEABLE is that our killer is not made out to be some sort invulnerable and unstoppable criminal, but one whom is just as vulnerable as his victims and those that pursue him, he's fueled by his own revenge regarding the exploitation of his father's suicide - and even as bad as that sounds, we can all also relate to revenge as well. But nonetheless, the killer is rather smart here, but in a way that is realistically flawed. In my opinion, I thought the acting here was great. I for one am a huge fan of Diane Lane, and have been for quite awhile, so have have seen her in many diverse roles. Here in UNTRACEABLE for the role given, she plays a rather convincing FBI agent hot on the trail of an elusive killer. A good performance in a role that maybe could've been developed better in some way. We are told in mid-film that she is a widow, she's raising a young daughter with the assistance of her Mother, but not much else...but as I said, with what little character she does have, she makes the most of it. Usually a regular on the independent scene, Colin Hanks joins Lane as Griffin Dowd, Marsh's sidekick of sorts. Colin Hanks, the son of Tom Hanks, is a great, great actor, one who has impressed me many times, that when given the chance, i'd pick one of his movies over one of his dad's any day. Although his role here isn't noted for it's longevity, he still offers up a very likely companion to Lane. In the end, some or most may not enjoy this film for whatever reason they choose. But as for me, I thought it was stylish in look, edgy in material, and yes, a bit clever in it's execution. |
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| GORE
METER 4/10 A person bleeds to death, another burned, there as also a seemingly slow and agonizing acid bath. |
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| MUSICAL
SCORE 4/10 The score was simple, but kept to a certain theme that worked quite well for the film. |
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| OVERALL
IMPRESSION OF THE FILM I know that after seeing UNTRACEABLE It's not certain just how much of it is accurate as far as technical aspects go, but for what it's worth, the filmmakers made an enjoyable movie out of it. I wouldn't go as far as saying that this is a film you will learn from, but it is one that may make you curious about what really goes on, online. UNTRACEABLE was a film that kept me interested and involved, mostly through the performances of Diane Lane and Joseph Cross(as Owen Reilly) who portrays a traumatized teen whom results to violence, unfortunately, the type of person our world has become all too familiar with. |
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