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Switchback (1997)
Rate:
8
Viewed:
12/20
12/20:
Unpredictable that's full of solid acting, Switchback is too clever for its own good.
The avuncular Danny Glover makes it simple for me to guess he's the killer after all. Director Jeb
Stuart tries to throw things off by using some silly strategies to sheer me into thinking it might be Lane Dixon (Jared Leto).
Well, I wasn't fooled. In hindsight, that's why I never saw the movie when it came out in 1997, grossing $6.5 million
against a budget of $38 million. Yet the acting is exemplary. It's what kept me engaged.
R. Lee Ermey is super special and is almost Oscar-worthy, but the director manages to ruin everything and doesn't give him
more screen time to wrap up his character properly. Danny Glover is outstanding. I would've said back then Jared Leto
was going to be big. Oddly, Dennis Quaid gives a stiff performance.
Given the cops were looking for the serial killer, I thought to myself, "Why not ask Ted Levine?" The guy should know
because he played Buffalo Bill in The Silence of the Lambs. Of course,
the genre is old hat; therefore, movies that showcase super-intelligent, all-knowing serial killers is annoying when in
fact they've never existed except for maybe Jack the Ripper and the Zodiac Killer. At least, he's black for a change.
As well-paced as Switchback is, things become sillier toward the end. It's the last half-hour that ruins the film which was
started by the perfectly orchestrated car crash. When the FBI agent finally figured out the number (a huge
stretch here) that's associated with a train, it's a signal of the filmmakers being too cute. The final nail in the
coffin is the unrealistic battle between Dennis Quaid and Danny Glover on the metal beam that's attached to the fast-moving train.
All in all, Switchback has many red herrings, implausible characters, and "no way" moments yet is quite watchable.