La piste du tueur

Switchback was an enjoyable mystery/thriller with a few nice action sequences. Quaid's character seemed a bit cliche to me (like he was impersonating a dour Harrison Ford) but Glover's character was unique and interesting. This movie didn't have a lot of surprises or plot twists, but director Jeb Stuart managed to keep my interest high by using well drawn and likeable characters and by keeping a lot of balls in the air from the beginning of the movie. With the exception of the serial killer himself, the conflicting motivations of the characters played well with the story and provided plenty of tension. I especially enjoyed the portrayal of the serial killer himself. This is possibly the first movie I've seen where the killer had a human face and was not a psycho mastermind genius or a low-life loner with a chip the size of Manhattan on his shoulder.

this is by far a very differemt serial killer movie than other ones I've seen. it really makes you fall in love with or hate the characters. i have to say these days there are a lot of serial killer films , that people have to be killed in, but when they do die we neither feel happy or sad towards their deaths.

all the parts were played well and the casting was well chosen. there's not many twist or unexpected stuff at the end cause they were all revealed in the middle og the film , and that disappointed me cause i like to keep guessing the killer towards the film.

its a for sure recommendation. WATCH IT!! 7.6/10

Wow, this is an intense story that should keep you interested for the full two hours. The five main roles are all men and they are pretty interesting, led by Danny Glover's character, who is very, very creepy.

I'm hesitant to say much about this film for fear of giving anything away for those who have not seen it. Suffice to say its a rough movie in regards to language, violence and general attitude but the story grabs you quickly and is tough to put down once you are into it.

One complaint I read said this film never made it big because it was too convoluted a storyline. In fact, the story isn't really pieced together until the last few minutes. Well, a lot of films over the years were like that (Charlie Chan and Sherlock Holmes mysteries, just to name two) and no one complained.

The fact that FBI agent Dennis Quaid would figure things out to the exact minute does stretch credibility so don't look for a film that makes a lot of sense: it's simply a very tense thriller that entertains, so it serves its purpose.

Lee Ermey, the fanatical drill sergeant in Full Metal Jacket, also is fun to watch in here. Jared Leto and Ted Levine also contribute nicely. It's a man's film, for the most part and an effective diversion for two hours.

I saw this film for the first time on late night television after returning from the cinema where I saw the disappointing 'Along Came a Spider'. There are similarities, but Switchback is by far the better film. Jeb Stuart has done a terrific job keeping us at the edge of the couch and there are very few cliches around. Danny Glover and the entire cast are just right, and all the characters, even the minor roles, are three-dimensional. The story centres on a young handsome hitchhiker picked up and befriended by the serial killer. But this is no ordinary serial killer -- he is Mr. Popularity along the mountain roads where they travel in buddy movie-fashion. But not for long. The killer isn't out to make new friends. What he is doing is cleverly framing the loner-hitchhiker (finger prints on murder weapon etc) so that the law will be searching for the hitchhiker, and not the real killer. That is the killer's modus operandi. So here we have this handsome hitchhiker with a mysterious past (a doctor who ran away) and a killer with a bloody past who is on the run. Enter an FBI agent (Dennis Quaid) who is wanted by the FBI. The FBI want Quaid off the case. But Quaid is a determined man: the serial killer, who he has tracked for 18 months, has kidnapped his son....All of these outsiders come through a small town where the local sheriff loses the election by opting to help the truant FBI agent find the real killer... Three quarters of the way through the film, everyone is chasing someone and the tension keeps mounting along with the altitude.

The killer has left a note with a cryptic clue that Dennis Quaid must decipher. But the key to his son's whereabouts lies elsewhere.....

This is a fresh breath of writing into a genre that has been abused and neglected of late. There are nice echos of our favourite films noir (...the hitchhiker, the loner, the car accident.....the guessing came about who is who...). There's a touch of The Fugitive, but not too much. On top of all the good acting, casting, plotting and suspense, there's nice atmosphere and locations in the Rockies.

Definitely a Good suspense/thriller........should have been rated nearer to an 8 to an 8.5 rating. Danny Glover does an excellent acting job. There are enough turns and twists in the plot to keep one's interests all the way through the movie, in my opinion.