Switchback

By the time Dennis Quaid finally makes his first appearance in Switchback at about the 22-minute mark, you may wonder why he bothered. After all, writer/director Jeb Stuart seems to be working with a pair of promising storylines already: 1) a sheriff (R. Lee Ermey) facing the competing pressures of an election battle and investigating a brutal double homicide, and 2) the interaction between a young hitchhiker (Jared Leto) and a jovial motorist (Danny Glover) who become the prime suspects. Then Quaid shows up as a grimly determined FBI agent with personal and professional reasons for believing that the murders are the work of a serial killer he has been tracking for two years. Unfortunately, Quaid possesses exactly one facial expression and one vocal intonation as a dramatic actor. We know he's determined because his face is a perpetual tight-jawed, constipated pucker; we know he's grim because every word comes out in an Eastwood-esque rasp. It's tough to become emotionally invested in a character's turmoil when it looks like all he really needs is a big bowl of bran flakes. Not recommended. (S. Renshaw)