Friday, October 9, 2009

The Yucky Movies of October: Untraceable

9) Untraceable

What can you say about a movie that opens with someone gluing a cat to a mousetrap to let it die while people watch? This whole movie is about that level of class.

This is one of those high-toned "thrillers" where it doesn't look like anyone enjoyed any part of making it. Everything is gray, everyone looks drawn. It may was well be Deceived. Everything feels like the people involved felt a little sleazy about making this one. That impression of shame colors everything. Diane Lane is also starting to resemble the middle-years Mary Tyler Moore... she has a big bright smile like Moore's too. She should be in lots of comedies not these dreary thrillers and Richard Gere romances...

A killer who broadcasts murders live on the internet and accelerates their timetable based on how many viewers they have "squares off" with a FBI agent. Pretty standard stuff. The deaths by anti-coagulant, heat lamp, and home-brewed battery acid are somehow creative yet incredibly dull all at the same time. Also, we learn who the killer is about 40 minutes or so into the picture. The fact that he's a nebbish kid doesn't help any. The guy in Copycat was more threatening in comparison.

On the whole this is an unthrilling-thriller. I say "meh."

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