Switchback (film)
Encyclopedia
Switchback is a 1997
thriller starring Dennis Quaid
, Danny Glover
, Jared Leto
, Ted Levine
, William Fichtner
and R. Lee Ermey
, set in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains
of Colorado
, and Amarillo, Texas, USA. It was directed by Jeb Stuart.
), is up for reelection, so both he and opponent Jack McGinnis (William Fichtner
) are eager to be the one to solve a big murder case before Election Day. Meanwhile, a hitchhiker named Lane Dixon (Jared Leto
) is picked up by Bob Goodall (Danny Glover
), an affable drifter.
FBI agent Frank LaCrosse (Dennis Quaid
) turns up in Amarillo and tells them he is in charge of tracking down an elusive serial killer, the person he suspects is responsible for the murders. Olmstead discovers that LaCrosse has been taken off the case by superiors. LaCrosse explains that the boy that was kidnapped was in fact LaCrosse's young son Andy (Ian Blake Nelson), a fact which means he was taken off the case. Frank is now more determined than ever to catch the killer and he teams up with the Amarillo, Texas
police department to continue his investigation.
The tactics of the FBI agent concern Olmstead at first, particularly after finding out Frank's personal involvement in this case and that cooperation with the suspended agent could cost him his own job. Bob tells Lane about his son as they become friends and asks him to promise to look after him if anything should happen to Bob. Lane agrees and Bob tells him his sons address.
Lane appears more and more to be a prime suspect, but with Frank on his trail, it is revealed that Bob is the actual killer. He and Frank battle on the side of a train
. Bob tells Frank that he will have to kill him to find out where his son is, but Bob falls off the train laughing. He tumbles down a hill and is impaled by a broken branch of a fallen tree, killing him.
Frank is grieving at having lost the last chance to locate his son. Lane, who was voiceless due to having his throat partially slit by Bob, realizes that Bob had given him a clue of the boy's whereabouts during their time together. Lane writes something on the floor of the train, which leads Frank to the address Bob gave Lane where he finds his son.
1997 in film
-Events:* The original Star Wars trilogy's Special Editions are released.* Production begins on Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.* Titanic becomes the first film to gross US$1,000,000,000 at the box office making it the highest grossing film in history until Avatar broke the record in 2010.*...
thriller starring Dennis Quaid
Dennis Quaid
Dennis William Quaid is an American actor known for his comedic and dramatic roles. First gaining widespread attention in the 1980s, his career rebounded in the 1990s after he overcame an addiction to drugs and an eating disorder...
, Danny Glover
Danny Glover
Danny Lebern Glover is an American actor, film director, and political activist. Glover is perhaps best known for his role as Detective Roger Murtaugh in the Lethal Weapon film franchise.-Early life:...
, Jared Leto
Jared Leto
Jared Joseph Leto is an American actor, director, producer, occasional model and musician. Leto has appeared in both big budget Hollywood films and smaller projects from independent producers and art houses. He rose to prominence for playing Jordan Catalano in the teenage drama My So-Called Life...
, Ted Levine
Ted Levine
Frank Theodore "Ted" Levine is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Buffalo Bill in The Silence of the Lambs and Captain Leland Stottlemeyer in the television series Monk.-Early life and career:...
, William Fichtner
William Fichtner
William Edward Fichtner is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Sheriff Tom Underlay on Invasion, as Alexander Mahone on Prison Break, as William Sharp in Armageddon, and as Ken Rosenberg in the video games Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.- Early life...
and R. Lee Ermey
R. Lee Ermey
Ronald Lee Ermey is a retired United States Marine Corps drill instructor and actor.Ermey has often played the roles of authority figures, such as his breakout performance as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in Full Metal Jacket, Mayor Tilman in the Alan Parker film Mississippi Burning, Bill Bowerman in...
, set in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains
Sangre de Cristo Mountains
The Sangre de Cristo Mountains are the southernmost subrange of the Rocky Mountains. They are located in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico in the United States...
of Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, and Amarillo, Texas, USA. It was directed by Jeb Stuart.
Plot
A woman is killed babysitting a young boy, the killer takes him when he leaves the house. A few months later a man and cleaning woman are killed at a motel in Amarillo. Amarillo's longtime sheriff, Buck Olmstead (R. Lee ErmeyR. Lee Ermey
Ronald Lee Ermey is a retired United States Marine Corps drill instructor and actor.Ermey has often played the roles of authority figures, such as his breakout performance as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in Full Metal Jacket, Mayor Tilman in the Alan Parker film Mississippi Burning, Bill Bowerman in...
), is up for reelection, so both he and opponent Jack McGinnis (William Fichtner
William Fichtner
William Edward Fichtner is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Sheriff Tom Underlay on Invasion, as Alexander Mahone on Prison Break, as William Sharp in Armageddon, and as Ken Rosenberg in the video games Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.- Early life...
) are eager to be the one to solve a big murder case before Election Day. Meanwhile, a hitchhiker named Lane Dixon (Jared Leto
Jared Leto
Jared Joseph Leto is an American actor, director, producer, occasional model and musician. Leto has appeared in both big budget Hollywood films and smaller projects from independent producers and art houses. He rose to prominence for playing Jordan Catalano in the teenage drama My So-Called Life...
) is picked up by Bob Goodall (Danny Glover
Danny Glover
Danny Lebern Glover is an American actor, film director, and political activist. Glover is perhaps best known for his role as Detective Roger Murtaugh in the Lethal Weapon film franchise.-Early life:...
), an affable drifter.
FBI agent Frank LaCrosse (Dennis Quaid
Dennis Quaid
Dennis William Quaid is an American actor known for his comedic and dramatic roles. First gaining widespread attention in the 1980s, his career rebounded in the 1990s after he overcame an addiction to drugs and an eating disorder...
) turns up in Amarillo and tells them he is in charge of tracking down an elusive serial killer, the person he suspects is responsible for the murders. Olmstead discovers that LaCrosse has been taken off the case by superiors. LaCrosse explains that the boy that was kidnapped was in fact LaCrosse's young son Andy (Ian Blake Nelson), a fact which means he was taken off the case. Frank is now more determined than ever to catch the killer and he teams up with the Amarillo, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
police department to continue his investigation.
The tactics of the FBI agent concern Olmstead at first, particularly after finding out Frank's personal involvement in this case and that cooperation with the suspended agent could cost him his own job. Bob tells Lane about his son as they become friends and asks him to promise to look after him if anything should happen to Bob. Lane agrees and Bob tells him his sons address.
Lane appears more and more to be a prime suspect, but with Frank on his trail, it is revealed that Bob is the actual killer. He and Frank battle on the side of a train
Train
A train is a connected series of vehicles for rail transport that move along a track to transport cargo or passengers from one place to another place. The track usually consists of two rails, but might also be a monorail or maglev guideway.Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate...
. Bob tells Frank that he will have to kill him to find out where his son is, but Bob falls off the train laughing. He tumbles down a hill and is impaled by a broken branch of a fallen tree, killing him.
Frank is grieving at having lost the last chance to locate his son. Lane, who was voiceless due to having his throat partially slit by Bob, realizes that Bob had given him a clue of the boy's whereabouts during their time together. Lane writes something on the floor of the train, which leads Frank to the address Bob gave Lane where he finds his son.
Cast
- Dennis QuaidDennis QuaidDennis William Quaid is an American actor known for his comedic and dramatic roles. First gaining widespread attention in the 1980s, his career rebounded in the 1990s after he overcame an addiction to drugs and an eating disorder...
as Frank LaCrosse - Danny GloverDanny GloverDanny Lebern Glover is an American actor, film director, and political activist. Glover is perhaps best known for his role as Detective Roger Murtaugh in the Lethal Weapon film franchise.-Early life:...
as Bob Goodall - Jared LetoJared LetoJared Joseph Leto is an American actor, director, producer, occasional model and musician. Leto has appeared in both big budget Hollywood films and smaller projects from independent producers and art houses. He rose to prominence for playing Jordan Catalano in the teenage drama My So-Called Life...
as Lane Dixon - R. Lee ErmeyR. Lee ErmeyRonald Lee Ermey is a retired United States Marine Corps drill instructor and actor.Ermey has often played the roles of authority figures, such as his breakout performance as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in Full Metal Jacket, Mayor Tilman in the Alan Parker film Mississippi Burning, Bill Bowerman in...
as Buck Olmstead - William FichtnerWilliam FichtnerWilliam Edward Fichtner is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Sheriff Tom Underlay on Invasion, as Alexander Mahone on Prison Break, as William Sharp in Armageddon, and as Ken Rosenberg in the video games Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.- Early life...
as Jack McGinnis - Ted LevineTed LevineFrank Theodore "Ted" Levine is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Buffalo Bill in The Silence of the Lambs and Captain Leland Stottlemeyer in the television series Monk.-Early life and career:...
as Deputy Nate Braden - Walton GogginsWalton GogginsWalton Sanders Goggins, Jr. is an American actor best known for his roles on the FX Networks series The Shield and Justified, portraying Detective Shane Vendrell and Boyd Crowder, respectively. He is also known for his character roles in the films Miracle at St. Anna and Predators...
as Bud (credited as Walt Goggins) - Maggie RoswellMaggie RoswellMaggie Roswell is an American film and television actress and voice artist from Los Angeles, California. She is well known for her voice work on the Fox network's animated television series The Simpsons, in which she has played recurring characters such as Maude Flanders, Helen Lovejoy, Miss...
as Fae - Allison Smith as Becky
- Julio Oscar MechosoJulio Oscar MechosoJulio Oscar Mechoso is an American actor. He is occasionally credited as Julio Mechoso.Mechoso is a character actor in both television and film. He has appeared in several high-profile films, such as Grindhouse, Bad Boys and the controversial Ken Park. His television credits include Miami Vice,...
as Jorge Martinez - Kevin CooneyKevin CooneyKevin Cooney is an American film and television actor. He has appeared in the films Legally Blonde, Austin Powers in Goldmember, Con Air and many others, and the television series Dharma & Greg, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, and others.-External links:...
as Grant Montgomery - Leo BurmesterLeo BurmesterLeo Burmester was an American actor. Burmester worked for director John Sayles several times, including in Passion Fish and Lone Star , and also for directors such as John Schlesinger and Sidney Lumet, and as the Apostle Nathaniel in Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ...
as Clyde 'Shorty' Callahan - Claudia Stedelin as Missy, the Babysitter
- Orville Stoeber as Hector Saldez
- Donnie L. Betts as John, Patrolman
- Mark CurryMark Curry (actor)Mark G. Curry is an American actor and comedian. He is best known as the star of the ABC sitcom Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, and as one of the various hosts of the syndicated series It's Showtime at the Apollo.-Early life and education:...
as Robbie - Paul ParducciPaul ParducciPaul Parducci is an American actor, film director, writer and producer. As a television and film actor he is best known for playing edgy authority figures and blue collar heroes on shows like Desperate Housewives and NYPD Blue and films like Hitman's Run. As a writer and director he displays a...
as Man in Shower - Sandy Ward as Tex Monroe
- Robert PetersRobert PetersRobert Louis Peters is a poet, critic, scholar, playwright, editor, and actor born in an impoverished rural area of northern Wisconsin in 1924. He holds a Ph.D in Victorian literature. His poetry career began in 1967 when his young son Richard died unexpectedly of spinal meningitis...
as Colorado Trooper - Christopher MichaelChristopher MichaelChristopher Michael is an American actor, director, writer, who is most famous for portraying Sergeant/Detective/Captain/Chief Michaels on 7th Heaven...
as Colorado Trooper - Tommy PuettTommy PuettTommy Puett is a former American actor and singer of the 1990s.-Career:Born Ralph Thomas Puett III in Gary, Indiana, Puett is best known for starring in the TV drama series Life Goes On, playing Tyler Benchfield, from 1989 to 1991...
as Ben - Velvet Rhodes as Deputy Sheriff McLaughlin (uncredited)
- Christopher Senger as Bill Suderland (uncredited)
External links
- Movie review from the Cincinnati Enquirer