Untraceable (2008)

Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Here is a quite scary and persuasive thriller from Gregory Hoblit which kicks off with a simply breathtaking scene or two, as an ordinary woman - Jennifer Marsh, as played by Diane Lane, leaves an ordinary house in an ordinary part of Portland, drives off in an ordinary car to an extraordinary place in which she joins a close-knit team doing an extraordinary job. In brief, she works at an FBI centre at which trained agents use computer and Internet skills to detect online crime (and various kinds of suspect behaviour), calling up immense amounts of data of all kinds in the slickest possible way, before ordering in the SWAT teams once a physical location has been identified - this physical location then having its doors battered down in the most reassuringly low-tech and old-fashioned of ways! This is a fine, fine, well thought-out and executed start sequence that peaks at such a level of speed, incisiveness, mastery of high-tech and (to me) meaningless computer-nerd jargon that I checked the cars in the next scene just to make sure I wasn't inadvertently watching some sci fi offering set at least a few years in the future! I was not, so this is technology deployed to catch "bad guys" that is in place now - or better yet in 2007/8 - when the film was made. Impressive indeed.Having started so very well, this ostensibly-modest film which apparently failed to recoup its budget in cinemas moves on to its main goal and main social comment - also online-related; and this is where we are presented with somewhat self-parasitising and certainly "iterative" aspects inherent in the idea of the film.Basically it goes like this: in order to portray the activities of a madman whose moral-high-ground protesting against the ghoulishness of those surfing the Web sees him making his point by hurting animals and people in devious ways whereby severity of hurt and level of harm depend on viewing figures, the makers of "Untraceable" have themselves to invent three or four ways of killing a victim so mean, sadistic, inhumane and torturing that they may on their own account (conceivably) encourage imitation by some psycho out in the real world, and may very possibly attract that same certain kind of screengoer as is featured in the film, i.e. the kind of person who can't wait to see how far and low the film itself will go! If you see what I mean...In fact, the film does not go that far or that low - it's no gorefest, unlike certain recent offerings which specialise in presenting masterminds of hideously bloody, humiliating and sadistic torture hurting people who come to their houses in extremely foul ways. Nevertheless, there are some pretty awful things (above all deviant ideas) shown, and one could question whether the work in some way panders to the very thirst for on-screen unpleasantness that it is condemning, and that the anti-hero villain (as played by Joseph Cross) is also condemning, paradoxically by engaging in dreadful acts of torture, in his sick way apparently seeking to demonstrate to America how low its Internet users have sunk! In the face of all that, we have the right to ask whether "Untraceable" is of itself thoughtful or prurient, disdainful of screen evil or pandering to it. Ultimately, I plump for the positive reading of this film, primarily because I come away from it (now for the second time) feeling that I have seen a good and worthwhile piece of cinema. It's gritty and grey (it rains a lot in Portland in late autumn), surprisingly well-acted by actors largely unknown, at least to me (albeit also with what was presumably then a bit-part for Jesse Tyler Ferguson now looking like an effective cameo!) And it delivers its punch pretty squarely and seems convincing enough, most especially (though not solely) in that extremely classy first 10 minutes.

I loved this movie because it was filmed in my home town, but it is also a reasonable assumption that this will or already has happened in today's time. The movie itself is not a total on the edge of your seat thriller, but worth the watch if you get a chance. I have seen it a couple of times now, and this 2nd time, I had it running in the back ground while doing other things. I found myself stopping to watch! There are some places in the film where you wonder, WHY is she doing that?? The scene with the daughter going outside to wave at the camera, or when Diane's character gets back in her car on the bridge without completely looking for the bad guy, come on, you are a cop. Other than that, worth the watch.

A ferocious retelling of the old tale of voyeurism, supplemented by the behind-glass-partitions shots. It brought to my mind the memory of Hitchcock's (The Rear Window). A good casting is waiting for you there. Diane Lane was like enthusiastic .. The guy who played the serial killer gave the traditional flat affect imprinted on serial killers' faces in movies. His methods of killing seemed to me rather complying with the social roles of his victims, for example the anti-coagulant bleeding of the naturally cold-blooded pilot and the heat lamp burning of the announcer who brings secrets to light on TV. Actually voyeurism continues till the last moment as the chat room displays comments.. It's a good movie on the whole.

This movie is an underrated gem. The story is socially relevant and the situation is possible too. People say 'Saw' is great. Then, how did they find this one bad? Just go to youtube and see some of the videos were someone is getting killed. Believe me. There ARE such videos in YOUTUBE. Read the comments. There would be some comments in which people are taking the situation in a hilarious way. You see, this movie is highly relevant. The one flaw that I found in the movie is the ending. It is highly implausible that the kid would stage the death in the police officer's own garage. Besides, the way she escapes is highly unrealistic. I think the movie would've been an EPIC if they changed the ending and made her die in the end. Then, the comment they show in the last scene would've more effect. Seriously, I think this movie is just great