Mjeteconer
Just perfect...
Maleeha Vincent
It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.
Scarlet
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
AudioFileZ
I missed this when it came out myself, but I'm glad it was found on line at one of the usual suspects. This is a crime thriller with several elements blended together. The chief among those elements is how blood is always thicker than even the highest callings. Dennis Quaid is good as a driven FBI agent who seeks a serial killer who abducted his son. In between, when he was on the case and his personal involvement removed him, there is a particularly crafty serial killer with no conscience and a terribly skewed idea of a...game. That sets Quaid on a journey putting him at odds with the agency. In this strange world with plenty of darkness in the shadows of light this story may skirt believably, but just barely. It's a ride worth taking. The cast here is uniformly excellent in weaving a story which keeps the viewer on edge. Danny Glover and F. Lee Ermey deserve accolades in a thick atmospheric tale. This is a solid crime thriller and a recommended watch.
Scott LeBrun
The extremely well chosen cast raises the value of this thriller a notch, in this tale of a somber FBI agent, Frank LaCrosse (Dennis Quaid) in relentless pursuit of a serial killer. For Frank the pursuit has become personal because this particularly crafty and odious killer has abducted his son. The movie intercuts between Frank's story and that of drifter Lane Dixon (Jared Leto), who's hitched a ride with gregarious character Bob Goodall (Danny Glover). Eventually the two stories are brought together, and a confrontation occurs on a train passing through some mountains.As those who have seen this will tell you, "whodunit" is not at all the hook of the story. Debuting filmmaker Jeb Stuart (who had co-written "Die Hard" and "The Fugitive" for the screen) cares far more about his characters - and telling the tale - than trying to dazzle the audience with elaborate action set pieces. Granted, the movie does eventually head in that direction, but this is one of those rare cases where the action serves the story rather than the other way around.And these characters are people we can actually get to like - even the psycho, who does have a certain charisma about him. You can see how his victims wouldn't feel threatened by him until it was too late. Filling out the rock solid supporting cast are R. Lee Ermey as the small town sheriff who is moved by Franks' predicament, Ted Levine as his loyal deputy, William Fichtner as the smarmy lawman trying to move in on Ermey's job, Leo Burmester as amiable mechanic Shorty, and in small parts, Brent Hinkley, Walton Goggins, Ted Markland, Gregory Scott Cummins, Maggie Roswell, Allison Smith, Julio Oscar Mechoso, Kevin Cooney, Merle Kennedy, and Sandy Ward. Glover is engaging as Bob while Quaid is wonderfully understated.Those aforementioned action scenes are rousing, and there's a great deal of impressive rural vistas well shot in Panavision."Switchback" is lengthy, but worth the effort for fans of the genre.Seven out of 10.
blanche-2
"Switchback" begins with a murder and a kidnapping. The next thing we know, an FBI agent, Frank LaCrosse (Dennis Quaid) arrives in Armarillo, Texas, looking for a serial killer. The MO of the murders there matches that of the killer he's been tracking for some time.In a parallel storyline, a good ol' boy, Bob Goodall (Danny Glover) driving a wild Cadillac gives a ride to a young man, Lane Dixon (Jared Leto) with a mysterious past -- at one point, a man is choking in a coffee shop and Lane announces he's a doctor and gives the man a tracheotomy. But he won't discuss it with Goodall.And in a third subplot, the town of Amarillo is preparing for a big election of sheriff, and the fight is between the current Sheriff Buck Olmstead (R. Lee Ermey) and police chief Jack McGinnis (William Fichtner). In the midst of their murder investigation, Olmstead learns that FBI agent Frank LaCrosse was removed from the case and is on probation with the FBI.All these plots fit neatly together."Switchback" is an exciting film with sequences that will have you on the edge of your seat, particularly those on the train. In a funny way it reminded me of a less glossy version of a James Bond film, in that the stunts were wild, with characters hanging off of cliffs, dangling from trains, in horrible car accidents - it never lets up.The plot is a little far-fetched and the ending predictable, although some elements are left open. But it has moments of real thrills and tension, with good performances by Glover, Quaid, and Jared Leto who always looks so drop dead gorgeous in movies. "Monk" star Ted Levine (Leland Stottlemeyer) plays a deputy, and if you look fast, you'll see Shield's Walt Goggins as one of the sheriff's men. Fortunately both have gone on to deserved success.Recommended.
brainlocked51
Formally a thriller, this film is in fact a rather substantive morality play about the price of integrity. Everyone in the film is called upon to make a moral choice that reflects who and what they are. And choosing has a price. Sheriff Olmstead played masterfully by R. Lee Ermey--once observes that "He--FBI agent Frank La Crosse--told the truth, and once you tell the truth, everything else is just cheap whiskey." Olmstead's observation pretty much sums up the film. Virtue is good whiskey. Laughably, Ermey delivers this line spot on with a bottle of Jim Beam--definitely not good whiskey--in the background. Olmsteads's integrity costs him the sheriff's election. His elective replacement, Chief McGinnis, played by William Fichtner, initially comes across as a pompous ass: but even he makes a virtuous choice that eventually costs him. Jared Leto who plays Lane Dixon, a burned out physician who strangely bonds with the killer, is another case of self-discovery through moral agency. Even Bob Goodall--a.k.a Danny Glover--the clearly insane serial killer, has a kind of warped integrity. Twisted, yes; but true to his "twistedness". FBI agent La Crosse's observation that the killer, Bob Goodall--the name is hardly accidental--may be a murderer but is not a liar simply underscores the film's larger Stoic themes. As Epictetus put it: "Be one man, bad or good." This film, written and directed by Jeb Stuart should have received more critical attention. It is a thoughtful and philosophically reflective film that paid a price for its quirky moral subtext and integrity: it flopped at the box office. Philosophical films, even subdued ones, are generally not money makers--even with decent writing such as this and a popular genre that should have been an appropriate vehicle for its message. However, even for an unreflective viewer this is an entertaining film directed and written by the same guy--Jeb Stuart--who wrote the screenplays for "Die Hard" and "The Fugitive".
