Formally a thriller, this film is in fact a rather substantive morality play about the price of integrity. Everyone in the film is called upon to make a moral choice that reflects who and what they are. And choosing has a price. Sheriff Olmstead played masterfully by R. Lee Ermey--once observes that "He--FBI agent Frank La Crosse--told the truth, and once you tell the truth, everything else is just cheap whiskey." Olmstead's observation pretty much sums up the film. Virtue is good whiskey. Laughably, Ermey delivers this line spot on with a bottle of Jim Beam--definitely not good whiskey--in the background. Olmsteads's integrity costs him the sheriff's election. His elective replacement, Chief McGinnis, played by William Fichtner, initially comes across as a pompous ass: but even he makes a virtuous choice that eventually costs him. Jared Leto who plays Lane Dixon, a burned out physician who strangely bonds with the killer, is another case of self-discovery through moral agency. Even Bob Goodall--a.k.a Danny Glover--the clearly insane serial killer, has a kind of warped integrity. Twisted, yes; but true to his "twistedness". FBI agent La Crosse's observation that the killer, Bob Goodall--the name is hardly accidental--may be a murderer but is not a liar simply underscores the film's larger Stoic themes. As Epictetus put it: "Be one man, bad or good." This film, written and directed by Jeb Stuart should have received more critical attention. It is a thoughtful and philosophically reflective film that paid a price for its quirky moral subtext and integrity: it flopped at the box office. Philosophical films, even subdued ones, are generally not money makers--even with decent writing such as this and a popular genre that should have been an appropriate vehicle for its message. However, even for an unreflective viewer this is an entertaining film directed and written by the same guy--Jeb Stuart--who wrote the screenplays for "Die Hard" and "The Fugitive".
Review of Switchback
