Switchback (1997)

Just what I expected

Just perfect...

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

"Switchback" opens with a tense scene that ultimately shocks the viewer and definitely catches your attention. A young child is being cared for by a babysitter. A creepy guy comes to the door and she turns him away - but somehow someone else got into the house, and he murders the babysitter and kidnaps the child. Really, from that point on you're not going to turn away from this because you have to find out how everything fits together. That isn't always easy. There are times when the connection isn't all that clear. In the first half hour or so, for example, it seems as if there are two completely separate stories going on, and frankly neither of the stories seems connected to that opening scene. In Amarillo, Texas, the local sheriff of Potter Country (R. Lee Emery) is being challenged for sheriff in an upcoming election by the chief of the Amarillo Police Department (William Fichtner) and both are hoping to gain votes by solving a couple of murders that took place in a local motel room. That seemed rather out of place when compared to the opening, as did what seemed to be shaping up as a "road trip" story featuring Lane (Jared Leto) and Bob (Danny Glover.) The movie seemed disconnected - but somehow it holds you, because you know that eventually everything has to get back to that opening, and you stick with this in spite of some confusion to find out how it does. In fact, it turns out to be a pretty good ride.The key to the whole movie is FBI Agent Frank LaCrosse (Dennis Quaid.) LaCrosse is hunting a serial killer who's murdered 18 people, and he's convinced that the recent killings in Amarillo were committed by the same killer. He's passionate about this investigation. As he says to the sheriff, he "knows" this killer. And finally, the connection is made. As the relationship between LaCrosse and the sheriff grows closer, LaCrosse tells the sheriff that his son had been kidnapped by this serial killer (AHA! - The connection to the opening scene!) and he was desperately searching for him to save his son. The killer is now playing a sort of cat and mouse game with LaCrosse. Eventually, the movie gives away who the killer is with quite a while to go, but even with that riddle solved, you keep watching. What about the LaCrosse's son?It's a pretty good ride. As an action movie, it starts slow but picks up speed, and there end up being a lot of pretty exciting scenes - especially on the train as the movie approaches its climax. As a suspense thriller, it's a pretty tense story. But there were two great weaknesses that detracted from this a little bit. The killer (I won't give away who it was) wasn't sufficiently developed. He came across as a nice guy with a pretty normal life, but the movie never really explained to us why the killer was playing the cat and mouse game with LaCrosse. Or why he was a killer in the first place. Why did he kidnap young Andy? Was it just to make sure LaCrosse would keep searching for him? Was it to get into Frank's head and even into his soul? The killer's motivation could have been explored a little better, although in a way the mystery about him and his apparent normalcy actually makes him a pretty scary psychopath. And, in the end, after some real excitement on the train, I thought the story kind of fizzled out. The eventual reunion between Frank and his son seemed anti-climactic. Still, even with a few weaknesses, this was a good story. (7/10)

Well done thriller, but, ultimately, I was somewhat disappointed, because it didn't really bring anything new to the table. The violence in the movie was pretty disturbing, not because of the gruesomeness, which wasn't particularly extreme, but instead due to the preferred method of killing and the killer's attitude. Dennis Quaid delivers a solid performance as the exceptionally solid, totally dependable, ideal father figure, a particular archetype he seems to have built a career on. Like one of the other reviewers commented, Danny Glover is not a favorite actor of mine, but he played his role in this film very well. In summary, a pretty run-of-the-mill thriller with high production values that plays much more like very good TV than a major motion picture.

Compared to other serial-killer flicks of the 1990s, director Jeb Stuart's "Switchback" is pretty good. It stars Dennis Quaid as an FBI agent who's busy tracking a murderer across the United States. Assisting him is Buck Olmstead (R. Lee Ermey), a small-town sheriff. The film also finds actors Jard Leto and Danny Glover playing a pair of likable drifters. One of them may also be the killer.More competent as travelogue than thriller, "Switchback" is at its best when its drifting in and out of motels, towns, train-stops, snow-capped roads or hanging out with ancillary characters. Stuart would have done better to delay the revelation of his killer's identity by an extra half hour, but for the most part avoids formula.7.9/10 – Underrated. See "Jennifer Eight", "Flesh and Bone" (1993), "The Pledge", "Memories of Murder", "Night of the Hunter" and "Humanite" (1999).

F.B.I. agent Frank LaCrosse returns home to find his home has been broken into, his son is missing and Missy the babysitter is lying in a pool of her own blood.Her murder being the hallmarks of a elusive enigmatic serial killer whose slaughter spree stretches nearly two years.Frank's desperate pursuit leads to Amarillo, Texas, where two more victims matching the killers M.O. have been found slashed to death.As Frank searches for his suspect the local Sheriff Buck Olmstead and his Deputy Nate Booker investigate the killings in-between a heated election feud, with his competition police chief Jack McGinnis.All the while drifting former doctor Lane Dixon is picked up by ex-railroad man, Bob Goodall.As a local Mechanic, Clyde 'Shorty' Callahan becomes the latest victim.Frank hopes and prays to find this sociopath before he disappears perhaps forever into the rocky mountains...It's a good movie with some great performances from the cast, but if you have common sense, you should know that Glover is the killer from the start because such a prolific actor wouldn't be in a role where the character has no real meaning in the film.He only picks up Leto, and thats his part in the narration of the film, and acting like an old school cowboy, I would have been very surprised if he were innocent.But despite that flaw, it's quite a tense film, with lots of beautiful locale, and red herrings.Quaid lets the side down a little, if only for the fact that he has an expression of 'no toilet for the next 20 miles' on his face.When Glover and Leto are on screen, the film is full of energy, and this is the problem too, the film seems dull and lifeless when they are absent.But all in all its a good effort, but never challenging, thanks to advertising and Glover playing the obvious choice for guess the killer.