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The Reel World: Untraceable |
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Thursday, 07 February 2008 |
Most of us have been guilty of getting online or turning on the TV and watching those horrific videos of car accidents, people reaching a painful end to a daring stunt or a number of other disturbing “caught on tapes.”
“Untraceable” relies heavily on people’s morbid curiosity for its plot.
The main character, Jennifer Marsh (Diane Lane), is an FBI agent in the
bureau’s Internet crime department. Marsh spends her time tracking down
scammers and thieves who hack into other’s computers and steal their
information.
An interesting twist arises when a tip comes in for a new Web site
titled killwithme.com that finds its way to Marsh’s desk. Upon
investigation, Marsh discovers that the site currently has a cat caught
up in a trap and the more people that sign on to the site, the quicker
the cat will die.
Marsh attempts to shut down the site but the rapidly regenerating IP
address makes it impossible and the Russian origins of the site put it
outside of the FBI’s jurisdiction. Marsh lets the topic go, assuming
that the fad will pass.
More trouble arises when the next victim turns out to be a human. The
cycle continues as the traps continue to become more gruesome and the
popularity of the site makes the killings swift and vicious.
Overall the film was completely predictable. There was nothing new or
innovative in the plot line. I had the outcome and the killer’s (Joseph
Cross) motives figured out by the halfway point in the film and this
just left me bored and waiting to be proven right.
Lane does a fairly good job with her character, but the lack of real
character development leaves her talent wasted. There is a sub plot
line that hints at Marsh’s husband, who we learn was once an agent and
was killed on duty but there is little else said.
Joseph Cross aka actor who plays the killer in the film is probably the
biggest asset to the cast. Cross really brings the disturbing emotion
that his character needed. The audience can almost sympathize with his
flawed reasoning behind the killwithme.com Web site.
“Untraceable” is definitely one of those movies you can wait to see
until it comes out on DVD. There are plenty of other older releases
still playing at the Regal that I would suggest such as: “Juno” or
“Cloverfield.”
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