IMDb user comments for
Untraceable (2008)

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164 comments in total

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69 out of 107 people found the following comment useful :-
Good enough to be worth your while, probably not to own., 25 January 2008

Author: RetepAdam

The movie had a few things going in its favor. For one, it used reasonable technology and background, so the story wasn't far-fetched. Secondly, and most importantly in my eyes, it did NOT go for shock value. It didn't try to use gore to elicit a reaction from the crowd. Not to say that some scenes weren't rough on the eyes, but it was far from a Saw or Hostel. Thirdly, it honestly kept me on the edge of my seat for a good portion of the movie. And lastly, the ending does not drag itself out. It ends at the logical point.

That having been said, this movie will not change your life. It's a little bit of a commentary on society, but moreso, it's just an entertaining movie to watch.

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36 out of 50 people found the following comment useful :-
Strong Performances Compensate, 26 January 2008

Author: LAKERS34 from Los Angeles

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Diane Lane and a strong supporting cast make up for a "been there-done that" crime drama. The story contains a few original twists as well as a few serious implausibilities. Nevertheless, the direction, pace, and performances, especially Lane's and Bill Burke's, draw you in and by the abrupt conclusion, you are on the edge of your chair. Burke and Lane, as rival investigators, develop an interesting chemistry that builds through the film and is never compromised. Joseph Cross gives a creepy, effective performance as the deranged techno-killer. The fact that the story gives him such amazing capability to the point that you occasionally start rolling your eyes should in no way deter from his acting.

All in all, nicely packaged if somewhat contrived; The story hinges on the fact that this "wunderkind" killer can continually crack every computer in his way, stay one step ahead of the law, and continue to capture victims for his morbid shows without skipping a beat. All that IS hard to believe, yet "Untraceable" was still satisfying entertainment.

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58 out of 95 people found the following comment useful :-
Same old song, and dance. Not talking about the movie., 4 February 2008

Author: Mudbug711 from United States

Well, I can say one thing about this movie is that is was very original. Most of the pessimistic losers out there who are fans of 'Gorror' movies will cry, and complain that it was a rip-off of the Saw series. Yeah, yeah... whatever. In reality... THIS could ACTUALLY happen. And the saddest part, is that people would log onto the site to watch THAT happen.

This movie was a little slow... It is not an action movie, does not have any nudity, no car chases, no monsters, no sex, no love triangle, no street fighting.. so the average movie-goer will find it lame, slow, and boring. I like slower movies, lets you think as you watch. Diane Lane was good, but not super. She has had better, no... much better roles. Joseph Cross plays a really creepy bad guy, with sick twisted emotions.

The movie was not great, but is surely was not a bad film. I believe if you are a real fan of Murder mystery, police detective films, with some thriller thrown in, you would, or may like this flick. With ONLY 1 Hr. and 40 Mins. if someone complains about length, they need to get checked for A.D.D. or they need to stick to teen-age comedies like Strange Wilderness, or Meet the Spartans.

Check this movie out with an open mind, don't let the pessimists cloud your idea of this film. It is an innovative film, with a good cast, and the shots of Portland, Oregon are not bad at all. I will actually give this film a 6 1/2 out of 10.

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36 out of 57 people found the following comment useful :-
Diane Lane get's it done again, 31 January 2008

Author: texrangers31 from United States

As I have stated before, I love scary movies even though I get frightened by everything. Untraceable caught my eye the first time I saw a trailer for it. The plot is very fast paced, and you will find yourself playing detective while watching. The best part of this movie is that it doesn't go for cheap scares, such as something jumping out or ominous music at key points in the film. If you can handle a little bit of gore, you should be fine. The ending won't blow you away, but you shouldn't be disappointed either. This is a solid film that isn't too scary, but it's no Muppet movie. Colin Hanks is solid as usual. The killer didn't quite meet my expectations on the creepy scale, but he is serviceable.

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75 out of 136 people found the following comment useful :-
Rental at best, 24 January 2008

Author: huiyt from Canada

Movie was slow moving in general, the plot was simplistic and is a smash between the Saw series and a CSI episode, but potentially less entertaining than either of the two. There was gore and disturbing content which in my opinion may have been inappropriate for the story. It could have been just as powerful without the disturbing pseudo-snuff film scenes as a police film and the suspense could be maximized, or the director should have made the call to make it more like a Saw movie, maintain the disturbing content and bring that fan base in. The target in my opinion was broad, drew in viewers who will be disappointed. Overall, if the movie moved a little quicker, or was potentially less graphic it might have earned a 6. To sum it all up, it was 20 minutes longer than it should have been and was misguided. Potentially worth a rental but even questionable in that case.

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19 out of 27 people found the following comment useful :-
Suffers by following the modern thriller playbook to the letter, 7 February 2008

Author: markie387 from United Kingdom

Director Gregory Hoblit goes all high-tech with this mildly engaging thriller. While it is a step up from FeardotCom and Perfect Stranger, it still falls into the trap that snares most internet-related pictures.

Firstly, not even Dashiell Hammett or Raymond Chandler can make hardboiled poetry out of phrases like "IP address" and "collective servers". Perhaps more importantly, it is difficult to make the practice of internet consumption look anything but inert, passive and geeky - how to be intimidated by a killer whose modus operandi is basically ctrl-alt-delete. In this respect, Untraceable tries hard not to pull its punches. From the opening, where the internet predator tortures a cute puddy cat, you know this cyber-psycho means business. But, as the body count escalates, so the victims are offed in more creative and ludicrous ways: death by a serum that speeds up haemophilia, death by heat lamps, death by sulphuric acid etc.

However satisfyingly 18 cert. things get, the movie still gets bogged down in formula. Lane's cop, Jennifer Marsh, is a forgetful mom and widow, caught in the over-familiar pull between catching crooks and a neglected family life. She is also at odds with her superior, shares comic relief with a co-cybercop (a likable Colin Hanks) and has a hint of attraction to regular cop Eric Box (a blank Billy Burke).

Then there are the rote thriller elements: red herrings, poking around dingy basements, and the old reliable killer-coming-at-what-the-heroine-loves gambit. To his credit, Hoblit coats the first half in a grey, chilly patina that gives it a sense of foreboding without straying into Seven-esquire extremes, but he can't make the second half as visually interesting.

Around the edges is some point-making about the culpability of the media in net torture porn. In a neat plot twist, the more people that log onto website, the quicker the victim dies - but Hoblit doesn't connect the dots to explore his theme fully or have that Hitchcockian skill to make the audience complicit in the crime. Still, it's a strong idea in a film sadly bereft of them.

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20 out of 30 people found the following comment useful :-
Another Below-Average Typical Thriller, 15 May 2008
Author: The_Flesh_Eating_Vegan from Fraggle Rock

While it has some effective cinematography and nice-to-look-at high-tech, 'Untraceable' is nothing but a typical snuff thriller. The characters are all clichéd, unintelligent and, with the exception of Hanks's Griffin and Diane's Jennifer they lack dimension. The plot is predictable and uninteresting. The story suffers from too many plot holes. The ending is funny (though the director's intention was clearly something other than drawing laughter from the viewer). It's very funny how the director portrays all American internet surfers to be thirsty for a glimpse of torturous death. Among the plus points, Diane Lane performs well (but her character is the typical crime-fighting single mom/widow which one has seen in n number of movies. Colin Hanks gives a natural performance but one wonders why an actor of his calibre chose to play a less significant role in a below-average thriller. The same question applies to Ms. Lane. Billy Burke is abysmally wooden and his dialogue delivery is laughable especially when he swears. The swearing, while adding to another movie stereotype where the coppers swear a lot, feels too forced. Joseph Cross horribly plays the typical teen psycho. There's really nothing else to say. 'Untraceable' has nothing to offer. The only thriller concerning snuff movies that is of high quality is Amenabar's 'Tesis' and 'Untraceable' is nowhere near that.

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22 out of 34 people found the following comment useful :-
Not as bad as I feared, 14 February 2008

Author: Ric-7 from New Orleans LA

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

I was not bored and did not want to walk out in the middle of the film, but I guess this is faint praise. I thought the murders were a bit more gruesome than they needed to be, but perhaps that was necessary because the plot was the weakest thing in this film.

The story moves along fairly quickly--there is no time to get bogged down in a subplot. The quick pace does not allow time for thinking about whether the various plot developments actually make sense, and whether there are just too many coincidences for the plot to be credible.

And the film just sort of ends. The villain does not make surprise encores at the end, nor do the survivors get together for a post-mortem. TG.

The performances were excellent. Diane Lane had the right blend of toughness and vulnerability. Billy Burke did the most he could with an rather underwritten character. Mary Beth Hurt was fine (and wasted) in what was just a bit part.

This film will disappear from theatrical release soon (if not already), and then enter the home video/DVD market. It's not that horrible--just don't expect The Silence of The Lambs.

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19 out of 30 people found the following comment useful :-
Original and reasonably interesting...spoilers, 27 January 2008

Author: tatz32000 from Hawaii

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

This story of a crazed killer using hits on a website to "assist" him in his killings is a refreshing high tech twist on the what I call the "killer-thriller" type of film. Not all the computer gibberish is comprehensible to those of us--such as myself--who aren't computer geniuses, but the major or breakthrough plot points--the eye blinks for one, the early use of what is actually the GM Onstar system in her SUV for another--are carefully planted and credible.

It's irrelevant to whom Diane Lane is married in real life, or who her mother in law is....what matters is that her performance here is top flight. She lets the makeup department avoid glamorizing her, and she comes across very convincingly as a 40 something woman professional highly competent in her job. I'm not a huge fan of hers (I recall her miscast role in the stinker "Must Like Dogs", but now I'm digressing, sorry) but her performance here is nuanced and top flight.

Refreshingly, the filmic style is even vaguely evocative of those wonderful 1940's Film Noirs, with rainy nights and a generally dark patina. I hear Portland is a cold, rainy city, so setting the story there was a wise move for atmosphere.

Some other writers have already made the point that is a bit amazing how the "bad guy" is sooo competent, and even hacks into her Saab's engine computer....but, hey, maybe its possible and even if it's not it still gives the film an exciting sequence.

Not a masterpiece, but very much worth seeing....

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9 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
Enjoyable but flawed., 27 January 2008
Author: John DeSando (jdesando@columbus.rr.com) from Columbus, Ohio

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

"You want the scent? Smell yourself." Hannibal Lecter

If you're longing for Lecter, get some good Chianti and watch Silence of the Lambs for the umpteenth time. The serial killer in the enjoyable Untraceable is not half as interesting as the cunning Hannibal, but then again the real interest is cybercrime, the Internet's ability to draw the world to a site, which if not regulated, can serve snuff as easily as sex.

The menace of the Portland, Oregon, police and FBI is a cyber-psycho who tortures his victims on the Web in real time, all of whom die more quickly with each hit to the site. Although brutality is not as explicit as in Saw or Se7en, the film effectively suggests our communal relationship in cyberspace and ultimately our responsibility to restrict the criminal potential, admittedly an extreme case here.

Diane Lane plays agent Jennifer Marsh, a sometimes cool, too many times emotional cyber cop, whose initial scene shows her competent in her job. Yet her antagonist proves almost invulnerable to her and the rest of the force. Most of the film is a cat and mouse (electronic this time) game during which the cops almost get him, but not quite.

The denouement is a disappointment after the first third's emphasis on the electronic drama; it all devolves into some primitive communication, standard intuition, visual observation, and plain old luck. Marsh's continually emotional response is neither favorable to the women's movement nor objective police work. Or maybe I've just been preconditioned by TV's cool CSI-like investigators.

Director Gregory Hoblit's pacing is much better than his direction of Ms. Lane; Anastos Michos's cinematography is spot on for a dreary, menacing Portland. In the absence of Silence of the Lambs and the presence of so much junk at this time of year, Untraceable has the only trace of a "B" movie thriller for a while. And don't forget the fava beans.

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