SWITCHBACK
RATING: *1/2 (out of ****)
Paramount / 2:02 / 1997 / R (violence, language, nudie pics) Cast: Dennis Quaid; Danny Glover; Jared Leto; R. Lee Ermey; Ted Levine; William Fichtner Director: Jeb Stuart Screenplay: Jeb Stuart
This season needs another serial killer movie like Kathie Lee Gifford needs more public devastation. But lo and behold, here comes "SwitchBack," and fast on the heels of such stalker fare as "Kiss the Girls" and "I Know What You Did Last Summer." But "SwitchBack" is an undoubtedly weak genre entry, as the material it covers is old and tired, and the filmmakers rarely sustain enough energy to make any of the proceedings interesting.
"SwitchBack" opens with the murder of a babysitter and the abduction of the young child she's watching. We learn late in the game that the kid belongs to FBI agent Frank LaCrosse (Dennis Quaid), and that the kidnapper/killer is a nameless fiend that LaCrosse has been tracking across the country for quite a while. He is promptly removed from the case, but this conflict of interest doesn't keep him from offering pursuit. LaCrosse's most recent trek takes him to a blood-soaked hotel room in Amarillo, Texas, where the local sheriff (R. Lee Ermey) is torn between his re-election campaign and helping his new ally catch his man.
In a related aside, former railway worker Bob Goodall (Danny Glover) is cruising through the snowbound west in his pinup-plastered (even on the seatbelts) El Dorado. Along the way, he picks up -- and subsequently saves the life of -- hitchhiking loner Lane Dixon (Jared Leto). This tangent isn't a random one, as Bob or Lane will end up either holding a piece of the puzzle or turn out to be the killer himself. Or is the villain in fact LaCrosse, only pretending to be after the cold-hearted murderer he knows so much about.
In a sense, that's half of the basic problem with "SwitchBack." For its first hour, the movie presents evidence that any of these three men could be the perpetrator, so we're given little insight into who they are, likely for fear that we'll learn too much too fast and therefore be able to make the proper deduction. But "SwitchBack" then decides to explicitly reveal the killer's identity at its midpoint, and the following contradictory character motivations muddle both the pacing and the generation of suspense.
Some of the acting is a burdensome area as well, probably because the performers were instructed to build personas that are the exact opposite of their true selves. What is Danny Glover doing here, grinning and yeehawing his way through the messy plot? And Dennis Quaid? (That monotone -- stop it!) Ermey is solid in a supporting role that's more interesting than the two leads thrown together, but the charismatic Leto (Claire Danes' object of affection in "My So-Called Life") is a scene-stealer tried and true.
>From a material standpoint, "SwitchBack" is pretty empty. But even when first-time director Jeb Stuart (who wrote "The Fugitive" and "Die Hard") doesn't know what to do, he knows what he wants it to look like -- the movie provides some great visuals. The set-on-a-train climax looks good (even though the action is illogical), and the beautiful, crisp cinematography captures the Rockies in all of their icy splendor. Still, that's not enough to turn a lump of coal into a diamond, and more than the movie's look will end up leaving you cold.
© 1997 Jamie Peck E-mail: jpeck1@gl.umbc.edu Visit the Reel Deal Online: http://www.gl.umbc.edu/~jpeck1
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