SWITCHBACK Directed by Jeb Stuart If you're one of those people who just can't get their fill of watching cars skidding around on icy roads or people sliding down snow-covered hills, you'll want to hurry up and see "Switchback," a tepid would-be chiller that offers no shortage of perilous wintry situations. But don't be surprised if the rest of the film leaves you cold as well: "Switchback" is messily written and surprisingly poorly acted, considering the leads are Dennis Quaid and Danny Glover. Quaid, stuck in a one-note role as a renegade FBI agent, has no opportunities to exercise his rogueish charm, while Glover is woefully out-of-place pretending to be a man of mystery. Only Jared Leto (of TV's "My So-Called Life") seems to strike the right note, playing a hitchhiker with a secret. Like every fifth movie these days, "Switchback" deals with a serial killer, and yes, he's brazen enough to send self-congratulatory letters to the Feds. That gets Quaid's goat, and he takes it upon himself to personally track down and nail the murderer (why he's so determined to find the maniac will remain a secret, just in case you end up having to watch this some night at 3a.m. on HBO). Meanwhile, seemingly kind-hearted Glover travels through the West in a white Cadillac decorated with pictures of nude women. The car freaks out picked-up passenger Leto and probably won't win any applause from Gloria Steinem either. For some odd reason, a trail of blood seems to follow the duo around, and director-screenwriter Jeb Stuart obviously hopes you're on pins and needles wondering which man is responsible for the string of stabbings. But, just in case you're not, Stuart casually reveals the guilty party halfway through the movie, leaving the audience to wait for Quaid to finally catch up to the killer. For the most part, the pursuit is a yawn a minute, leading to a climax that would be laughable if it weren't so dull. Much of "Switchback" turns on outrageous coincidences and pure luck, as when someone just happens to enter a room just in time to overhear a crucial conversation, or someone just happens to look in the right direction at the right time and spot a major clue. Aside from a few well-executed stunts, the movie's only notable for being the second film within a month to feature an emergency tracheotomy in a public place. "Playing God" had the operation being performed in a nightclub; here, Leto saves a choking victim by doing the procedure on the counter of a roadside diner.
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