Leofwine_draca
SWITCHBACK is one of those dime-a-dozen thrillers that America made in the 1990s. I keep finding these popping up on television no matter that I never heard of them previously. I'll always watch them, hoping for greatness, and while not a great film, SWITCHBACK is watchable enough, and comparable to other films of the era.The narrative structure is sprawling and messy. Dennis Quaid - one of the blandest presences in Hollywood, it has to be said - plays a dedicated FBI agent on the hunt for a suspected serial killer. Various officials either support him or stand in his way, and the casting director had a ball with this one: Ted Levine, R. Lee Ermey, and William Fichtner are all here in support and more than welcome.At least half of the running time involves a sub-plot which has seemingly no connection to the main story, although of course you know by its inclusion that it will end up being related after all, so there are few surprises in store here. This part sees nice guy Danny Glover picking up kooky hitchhiker Jared Leto, and both actors acquit themselves well with their roles. There's the requisite action, tension, and detective work, with a good-looking story shot well by Oliver Wood. No classic, but different enough to be watchable for fans of serial killer movies.
AudioFileZ
I missed this when it came out myself, but I'm glad it was found on line at one of the usual suspects. This is a crime thriller with several elements blended together. The chief among those elements is how blood is always thicker than even the highest callings. Dennis Quaid is good as a driven FBI agent who seeks a serial killer who abducted his son. In between, when he was on the case and his personal involvement removed him, there is a particularly crafty serial killer with no conscience and a terribly skewed idea of a...game. That sets Quaid on a journey putting him at odds with the agency. In this strange world with plenty of darkness in the shadows of light this story may skirt believably, but just barely. It's a ride worth taking. The cast here is uniformly excellent in weaving a story which keeps the viewer on edge. Danny Glover and F. Lee Ermey deserve accolades in a thick atmospheric tale. This is a solid crime thriller and a recommended watch.
gavin6942
An FBI agent (Dennis Quaid) tries to catch a serial killer (Danny Glover) who kidnapped his son."Switchback" received negative reviews from critics and holds a 32% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 25 reviews. The film bombed at the box office, grossing just $6 million domestically off a budget of $38 million. This criticism is wrong, and I suspect if they were to reflect now (2015) they might be more positive.This is a strong cat-and-mouse thriller that has a nice change of pace: a serial killer who happens to be black. This defies the stereotype, and allows him to get away with much more while on the run. Very clever. We also have some actors who were not as big then as they are now. Jared Leto's career has only gone up, and Ted Levine really made a name for himself with "Monk" in 2002. (Yes, he had already broken out with "Silence of the Lambs", but "Monk" is arguably even bigger.)
Scott LeBrun
The extremely well chosen cast raises the value of this thriller a notch, in this tale of a somber FBI agent, Frank LaCrosse (Dennis Quaid) in relentless pursuit of a serial killer. For Frank the pursuit has become personal because this particularly crafty and odious killer has abducted his son. The movie intercuts between Frank's story and that of drifter Lane Dixon (Jared Leto), who's hitched a ride with gregarious character Bob Goodall (Danny Glover). Eventually the two stories are brought together, and a confrontation occurs on a train passing through some mountains.As those who have seen this will tell you, "whodunit" is not at all the hook of the story. Debuting filmmaker Jeb Stuart (who had co-written "Die Hard" and "The Fugitive" for the screen) cares far more about his characters - and telling the tale - than trying to dazzle the audience with elaborate action set pieces. Granted, the movie does eventually head in that direction, but this is one of those rare cases where the action serves the story rather than the other way around.And these characters are people we can actually get to like - even the psycho, who does have a certain charisma about him. You can see how his victims wouldn't feel threatened by him until it was too late. Filling out the rock solid supporting cast are R. Lee Ermey as the small town sheriff who is moved by Franks' predicament, Ted Levine as his loyal deputy, William Fichtner as the smarmy lawman trying to move in on Ermey's job, Leo Burmester as amiable mechanic Shorty, and in small parts, Brent Hinkley, Walton Goggins, Ted Markland, Gregory Scott Cummins, Maggie Roswell, Allison Smith, Julio Oscar Mechoso, Kevin Cooney, Merle Kennedy, and Sandy Ward. Glover is engaging as Bob while Quaid is wonderfully understated.Those aforementioned action scenes are rousing, and there's a great deal of impressive rural vistas well shot in Panavision."Switchback" is lengthy, but worth the effort for fans of the genre.Seven out of 10.
AD
