This is one of those Movies that Doesn't quite Work and it is difficult to figure out Why. It's got a Good Cast, Budget, Story and it all makes for a Suspense Filled Entertainment with an Edge.The Film has an Edge but is Never Really Sharpened to the point of Excellence. It seems to Meander at times and one of the Biggest Flaws, and this is Lethal, the Killer is Revealed way too Soon.It's got some Nice Neo-Noir Touches, like the Car Interior, and a Creepy Killer. With Off-Beat Characters like Lee Ermey as a Sheriff and His Deputy (Ted Levine), and Jared Leto as a Defrocked Doctor, all are Underused. But Danny Glover is better than usual as the Overacting actually makes His Character more Engaging. However, the Story Lingers at times. Dennis Quaid is Wasted as an FBI Agent on the Trail of His Kidnapped Son and the Post-Script Ending is not handled very well. Overall, Slightly Underrated, it has its Moments but has a Feeling of Something Not Quite Right. It is Suspenseful Enough and the Action Grips. Worth a Watch and with Low Expectations it might even Surprise.

I mostly liked "Switchback", but the last half hour or so seemed kind of anticlimactic, as if suddenly the truth gets revealed and then nothing more can happen. Granted, they did have a lot of tricks up to that point, but I still would have preferred a bigger surprise at the end. Nevertheless, Dennis Quaid, Danny Glover, Jared Leto and R. Lee Ermey do well in their roles. I kind of wish that more movies took place in the Rocky Mountains region (the most famous one is "The Shining", but another good one is "Sunshine Cleaning").Anyway, an OK movie, but I would have preferred a stronger ending.PS: Maggie Roswell, who plays Fae, is best known as one of the voices on "The Simpsons".

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.

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".