Untraceable

Infobox Film
name = Untraceable


caption = Theatrical release poster
director = Gregory Hoblit
writer = Mark Brinker
Allison Burnett
Robert Fyvolent
starring = Diane Lane
Colin Hanks
Billy Burke
Joseph Cross
Mary Beth Hurt
distributor = Screen Gems
released = January 25, 2008
runtime = 100 minutes
country = United States
language = English
budget = $35,000,000cite web
url = http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=untraceable.htm
title = Untraceable (2008)
publisher = Box Office Mojo, LLC
date = March 2, 2008
accessdate = 2008-03-13]
gross = $659,526,723
website = http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/untraceable/index.html
amg_id = 1:359015
imdb_id = 0880578

"Untraceable" is a 2008 film thriller starring Diane Lane, Joseph Cross, Billy Burke and Colin Hanks. It was directed by Gregory Hoblit and distributed by Screen Gems. The film is a social commentary on Internet schadenfreude. [cite web |url= http://movies.about.com/od/untraceable/a/untracedl012108.htm |title= Diane Lane Talks About 'Untraceable'
accessdate=2008-01-25 |last= Murray |first= Rebecca |date= 2008-01-23 |publisher= About.com]

Set in Portland, Oregon, the film involves a serial killer who rigs contraptions that kill his victims based on the number of hits received by a website ("www.killwithme.com") that features a live streaming video of the victim. Millions of people log on, hastening the victims' violent deaths. Lane plays the protagonist, a cybercop named Jennifer Marsh, who pieces the mystery together at great risk to herself and her family.

Plot

Jennifer Marsh (Diane Lane) is a widowed single parent living in a suburban Portland home with her daughter Annie Haskins (Perla Haney-Jardine). By night, she works in the FBI's cybercrime division with Griffin Dowd (Colin Hanks), fighting identity theft and similar crimes. One night, an anonymous tip leads them to a website called killwithme.com. The site features a streaming video of a kitten being tortured and killed.

After the kitten's death, killwithme's webmaster (Joseph Cross) 'graduates' to human victims and makes their deaths correlate directly with the number of hits the site receives. At a press conference, the public is urged to avoid killwithme but, as Marsh feared, this only increases the site's popularity. The videos are recorded in the killer's basement and his various victims include a helicopter pilot (who is bled to death by injections of anticoagulant), a newscaster (burnt by heat lamps) and Dowd (killed by slowly increasing the concentration of sulfuric acid solution in which he is submerged).

At first it seems the victims were randomly chosen, but this is not the case. The first two victims were chosen because they were part of filming or presenting the suicide of a junior college teacher. The teacher's unstable, techno-prodigy son, Owen Reilly, broke down and was admitted to a psychiatric hospital. When released, he decided to prove a point (that the public is insatiable for the suffering of others), as well as wreak vengeance on those he felt had exploited his father's tragedy. Dowd was killed because he came close to the truth of who the murderer was. Marsh, who figures this out, is soon targeted as well.

Captured by Reilly, Marsh escapes her death-by-mulcher by swinging out of the way while dangling from the ceiling. She ends up breaking free and pinning down the murderer just as the other police show up, Marsh kills Reilly on his own website. As the film ends, a shot of the chatters on the website are seen and someone requests for a video of Reilly's death.

Cast

* Diane Lane as Agent Jennifer Marsh
* Colin Hanks as Agent Griffin Dowd
* Billy Burke as Detective Eric Box
* Joseph Cross as Owen Reilly
* Mary Beth Hurt as Stella Marsh
* Tyrone Giordano as Tim Wilkes
* Perla Haney-Jardine as Annie Haskins
* Christopher Cousins as David Williams
* Tim De Zarn as Herbert Miller
* Peter Lewis as Richard Brooks
* Jesse Tyler Ferguson as Arthur James Elmer
* Brynn Baron as Mrs. Miller
* John Breen as Richard Weymouth
* Dan Callahan as Trey Restom
* Erin Carufel as Melanie
* Gray Eubank as Ray
* Zack Hoffman as Chief of Police Michael Bagley
* Len Huynh as Tom Park
* Dax Jordan as Scotty Hillman
* Daniel Liu as Detective Tom Moy
* Kirk Mouser as FBI Agent Carter Thompson

Reception

"Untraceable" opened on January 25, 2008 to generally negative reviews, receiving a 15% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 106 reviews. [rotten-tomatoes|id=10008954-untraceable|title=Untraceable] Several critics viewed the film as hypocritical for indulging in the "torture porn" it condemns.cite web |url= http://www.nwherald.com/articles/2008/01/24/sidetracks/movies/film/doc47995eb6580ff231899380.txt |title='Untraceable': Film revels in torture porn it condemns |accessdate=2008-01-25 |date=2008-01-24 |publisher=Northwest Herald] [cite web |url= http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080125/OPINION03/801250406 |title= Grisly 'Untraceable' embodies what it pretends to expose|accessdate=2008-01-25 |last= Long |first= Tom |date=2008-01-25 |publisher=The Detroit News] [cite web |url= http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/entertainment.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2008-01-25-0018.html |title= Torture porn genre gets 'Untraceable' treatment |accessdate=2008-01-25 |last= Neman |first= Daniel |date= 2008-01-25 |publisher=inRich.com] [cite web |url= http://www.mercurynews.com/columns/ci_8067327?nclick_check=1 |title= 'Untraceable': Streaming horror |accessdate=2008-01-25 |last= Newman |first= Bruce |date= 2008-01-24 |publisher= San Jose Mercury News] It also met criticism for its climax which was seen as devolving into horror film clichés. [cite web |url= http://www.hollywoodsnitch.com/?q=node/845 |title= Untraceable |accessdate=2008-01-25 |last= Mastrantonio |first= Rilio |date= 2008-01-25 |publisher= Hollywood Snitch] Some criticism has also made mention that the film's plot recycles the premise of the television series "Millennium" (season 2, episode 13 - "The Mikado") as well as the "Party Girl' episode of the series "Without a Trace" (season 3, episode 15). Lane, however, was praised for her performance in the film. [cite web |url= http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/24/AR2008012402997.html |title= 'Untraceable': Snared In Its Own Sordid Trap |accessdate=2008-01-25 |last= Hornaday |first= Ann |date= 2008-01-25 |publisher= The Washington Post] [cite web |url= http://newsok.com/article/3196639/1201225078 |title= Diane Lane helps add life when script grows cold |accessdate=2008-01-25 |date= 2008-01-25 |publisher= NewsOK] Roger Ebert gave the film a favorable review, giving the film a 3 star rating.

The film opened poorly, with an opening weekend of $11.3 million, below the $35 million budget. It was a financial loss for Screen Gems as it has so far made $51.8 million worldwide, on theatrical release.

Production

The film was shot in and around Portland, Oregon. A temporary studio was constructed in Clackamas, Oregon where all non-location photography was done, mostly interiors, including the FBI's cyber division, Marsh's house, the FBI building elevator, several basements, etc. A scene set on the east end of the Broadway Bridge was shot both on the actual bridge as well as at the studio. A faux diner was built underneath the Broadway bridge, which was used in the movie. The construction of this set took less than twelve hours. The birthday party for Haney-Jardine's character was filmed in the roller skating rink of Oaks Amusement Park.

DVD release

On May 13, 2008, "Untraceable" was released on DVD. The DVD included an audio commentary and four featurettes.

References

External links

* [http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/untraceable/index.html Official site]
* [http://www.killwithme.com/ Kill With Me website]
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* [http://www.youtube.com/KillWithMe Trailer] on YouTube