I can just imagine the pitch for Untraceable: "It's Silence of the Lambs meets Hostel meets YouTube." That's right, it's a techno-thriller with a bit of torture porn thrown in for the Internet age.
FBI agent Jennifer Marsh (Diane Lane) is a cyber-expert: her specialty is to beat cyber criminals at their game. When she gets a tip on a new website called KillWithMe.com, her initial disgust turns into fascination: the website is practically untraceable. The owner of the site has found a way to move around, stealing resources from around the world, leaving a trail of false leads for the FBI to chase after.
At first, the site only obtains mild notoriety for streaming live the torture death of a kitten. Alarmed, Marsh is told by her boss Richard Brooks (Peter Lewis) that it's not something that interests the FBI, even as she warns him about the potential of the site. That is, until the site starts to stream the live torture of a pilot named Herbert Miller (Tim De Zarn). Apparently, the more people to view the site, the faster Miller will be killed. And before you know it, and to the FBI's dismay, the website becomes an instant hit. The more press attention it gets, the more people visit, and Marsh fails to block the site despite her continuous effort.
As more people get abducted and killed live, and as more and more people visit the website, Marsh, with the help of detective Eric Box (Billy Burke), is racing against time to find the identity of the killer, who seems to be always one step ahead of them. Worse, the killer knows who Marsh is and where she lives...
Diane Lane (Hollywoodland) tries something new by playing an FBI agent -- not only that, she's also a computer nerd. Too bad, Lane is too classy and pretty to play a nerd. It's not as if her performance is not convincing. It's just that the lack of character development renders her rather one-dimensional. And you'd have thought that for all she does on the job, she would safeguard her home computers more effectively. That said, Lane gives an interesting performance that gives the male-dominant thriller a softer side.
Billy Burke (Fracture) is fine playing yet another cop. Again, his character is poorly developed. The hint of relationship between him and agent Marsh is glossed over. Burke is not allowed to show a wider range of emotions, and the performance feels stunted. Colin Hanks (King Kong) is interesting as Marsh's sidekick and he, unlike Diane Lane, looks the part. You can't help but like the guy. Meanwhile, Joseph Cross (Running with Scissors) plays against type as the disturbed killer. His cold stares and wicked smile are creepy and effective. Unfortunately, he, too, suffers from a lack of character development.
The screenplay by writing team Robert Fyvolent, Mark Brinker, and Allison Burnett (Feast of Love) has an interesting and timely high concept. As the Internet becomes more prevalent and ubiquitous, we often wonder how it would change our social mores, how people are desensitized by what they see or hear online every day, when instant gratification is the norm in cyber culture. I think the first act of the film successful captures this paradigm and creates enough suspense to string us along. Even the techno-babble sounds plausible, and only a true computer geek like me would catch the flaws.
However, once the killing starts, the plot falters. I was hoping for more cat-and-mouse game exploring the technologies, and how Marsh would be able to crack the killer's code to catch him. There's some but hardly enough, and it seems that the screenwriters just drop the ball. It seems that they've figured they couldn't possibly stay believable if they go on with the techno stuff. So they settled for a run-of-the-mill thriller with some surface psycho-babble thrown in. The result is unconvincing, implausible, and predictable. The plot loses steam in the third act. So many missed opportunities.
Director Gregory Hoblit (Fracture) does a good job giving the film a tight pace and ample suspense. I think they make a mistake revealing the killer early on -- they could have used the suspense a bit longer. But I can't really fault that on the director. The torture scenes are rather disturbing, but it's not like we haven't seen them before -- so what does it say about us? Are we so desensitized already? I give the director credit for showing just enough of the torture, then cutting away and letting our imagination take over. I think it's very effective. While it is far from the horror and grit of something like Se7en, the film does succeed in achieving certain heightened tension, only to have it dragged down by some rather silly sequences.Over all, Untraceable is entertaining but misses the mark. The story falls short of making it a truly mesmerizing serial killer thriller/drama. Ultimately, it's unremarkably forgettable.
Stars: Diane Lane, Billy Burke, Colin Hanks, Joseph Cross, Mary Beth Hurt, Peter Lewis
Director: Gregory Hoblit
Writers: Robert Fyvolent, Mark Brinker, Allison Burnett
Distributor: Screen Gems/Lakeshore
MPAA Rating: R for grisly violence and torture, and some language
Running Time: 100 Minutes
Ratings:
Script – 6
Performance – 7
Direction – 7
Cinematography – 7
Music/Sound– 6
Editing –6
Production – 7
Total – 6.5 out of 10
Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) is an oil prospector who goes from one place to another to help folks drill for oil. But he's not happy with just doing that. So when Paul Sunday (Paul Dano) gives him a tip on his family property, Plainview sets off with his son, H.W., to buy the property on false pretense. Soon, though, Plainview's true intention is revealed and he promises Eli Sunday (also Paul Dano) that he will give $5000 to Eli's church and help build up the town.
When Eli tells Plainview that he wants to bless the oil drill before they begin, Plainview agrees but later stiffs Eli. Then bad things happen -- workers get killed; H.W. gets hurt -- and Eli tries to convince Plainview that he is a sinner, and that he should join Eli's church. Plainview thinks Eli is a fraud and dismisses him completely. Not willing to work for anyone else, Plainview rejects an offer from the rail companies (which would have made him a very rich man) and decides to work with the oil union by building a direct pipeline to the coast. Meanwhile, his relationship with H.W. deteriorates as he doesn't know how to communicate and take care of his son anymore.
Daniel Day-Lewis (
The second biggest role in the film belongs to Paul Dano (
However, the film really is a Daniel Day-Lewis Show. All the characters, including Eli Sunday (Paul Sunday disappears after his brief scene near the beginning), are peripheral next to Daniel Plainview. From the very beginning of the film to the end, it is clear that it's a biopic of Plainview, chronicling his descent from ambition to insanity.
Slow and deliberate, writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson's (
Anderson's direction is like poetry on screen. In addition to the spellbinding twenty minutes in the beginning, there are many other breathtaking scenes. The derrick fire, for example, is extremely well done, dramatic, and intense. In fact, the first half of the film, despite its slow pace, is intense and interesting.
However, the story loses some steam in the second half. Even as Anderson reveals more about Plainview's character, we don't sense that there's any change or development, just more revelations. We do see how the fractures in Plainview's personality start to crack. However, to me, the second half of the film loses certain narrative momentum. It's worsened by a time jump at the end, without a lot of explanation of what happened in those 16 years, which leads to an unsatisfying confrontation between Plainview and the grown H.W. The final scene between Plainview and Eli, however, is odd, absurd, but regains the narrative intensity earlier in the film. And the last line is brilliant.
Carter (Morgan Freeman) is a mechanic and a grandfather who just discovers that he has cancer. During his treatment at the hospital, he is roomed with the hospital's owner, billionaire Edward (Jack Nicholson), a self-imposed bachelor who is also being treated with cancer. They form an unlikely friendship despite their differences in personalities, world views, and lifestyles.
When Carter and Edward discover that both their illnesses are inoperable and they only have months to live, they set out to create what Carter calls a "Bucket List" -- a list of things they'd like to accomplish before they, well, kick the bucket. After 45 years of losing himself in his job and family, Carter agrees to allow some free time for himself and go do all these "crazy things" with Edward, who professes to have always been married to his work. Together, they set out to see and experience the world. During that time, their friendship deepens and each learn a few things about life.
Jack Nicholson (
The supporting cast includes Sean Hayes (
The script by Justin Zackham (
The character development is excellent and the unlikely relationship between Carter and Ed is handled nicely. However, peripheral characters are pushed on the side as we focus on Carter and Ed. There are times when the story and dialogue feels heavy-handed and preachy, especially when Carter is trying to philosophize what life means. Certain sections feel drawn-out and too sentimental, even for a movie like this.
Even with the flaws of the script, director Rob Reiner (
So while the film is far from perfect and can use a tighter edit and benefit from a lighter and less preachy tone, it is surprisingly interesting, warm and inviting to make it into anyone's bucket list.
Juno (Ellen Page) is a high school kid who just finds out she's pregnant by her one-time boyfriend Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera). She can't go through with an abortion, so she decides to go through with it and give the baby up for adoption. With the help of her father Mac (J.K. Simmons) and best friend Leah (Olivia Thrilby), she finds a perfect couple to adopt her baby: musician Mark (Jason Bateman) and his lovely wife Vanessa (Jennifer Garner).
But nothing is as simple as it may seem. Juno is experiencing all the mood swings she's not used to. And she's developing an unhealthy crush on Mark, and Vanessa reveals herself as quite a control freak. Also, her relationship with Bleeker is hanging in the balance, as they both don't know what to do with themselves and the baby, if the adoption falls through.
Ellen Page (
Jennifer Garner (
J.K. Simmons (
First-time screenwriter Diablo Cody hits the jackpot with 
Director Jason Reitman (
That said,