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.
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.