Untraceable (2008)

Tough, Brutal Diane Lane Thriller With Something To Say About Modern Times
Untraceable certainly isn't a flawless thriller, but it's a solid, enjoyable one. It's not only a grisly, hard-at-times to watch film, but it has a brain, and definite opinions about how our culture seems to feed like pirahna on the misery and suffering of others using the immediacy of the internet.

Diane Lane plays an Portland FBI cybercrime investigator who finds herself after a gruesome killer who kidnaps his victims and tortures them to death on the internet, upping the ante as fast as he gets hits on his website. Lane's character is still grieving the death of her husband, a policeman killed in the line of duty, and this case quickly intrudes on her life with her mom and her young daughter.

There's no phony romance with her cop partner, no killer who is somehow connected to Lane, and she gets to save the day without a male cop taking over for her. There are plot aspects that don't ring true, but overall, this is a smart, engrossing film that has something to say, and says it pretty well.

Untraceable
When the website Killwithme starts up and shows the cruel killing of a kitten, FBI agents Jennifer Marsh (Lane) and Griffin Dowd (Hanks) are on the case. They work for the cybercrime division of the FBI, and are skilled at tracking down criminals over the internet. One week later, the site is back up, this time with a human being tortured. To make matters worse, the more traffic the site gets, the quicker the victim dies. The killer has somehow made the site untraceable, and the FBI can't stop it and as the public finds out about it, it gets more and more visitors. Soon, the killer's game becomes personal, and if Marsh cannot stop him, she might be the next victim.

"Untraceable" is an average thriller with moments of greatness. It starts out well, but spirals downward as it progresses. That's not to say it is bad though, just that it could have been better. Clearly the movie is criticizing the type of material available for viewing on the internet. That being said, the director has no problem showing the audience exactly what he seems to be rallying against. Sometimes less is more, and this would have been a good opportunity to leave things to the imagination rather than providing torture scenes worth of a "Saw" movie. Again, this is not a bad movie, just one that is flawed and could have been better. Wait for the DVD.

not too shabby
this movie wasnt the greatest but it was pretty good. started slow but had a good story to it and at times gave me even a couple of laughs. there is some blood but not much and it was entertaining. the end was kindof dumb but didnt kill the movie for me. its scary that there are people in this world that actually torture people like this for fun. its worth renting though