
DATE: Monday, November 3, 1997              TAG: 9711010071

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E7   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: MOVIE REVIEW

SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC 

                                            LENGTH:   53 lines

``SWITCHBACK'' HAS GREAT SCENERY AND ACTION BUT CONVENTIONAL PLOT

THE BEST THING about ``Switchback,'' the new chase-thriller, is the scenery - the snow-capped Colorado Rockies near Vail.

The most regrettable thing is a rather familiar plot. Coming just weeks after ``Kiss the Girls,'' it's yet another chase for yet another serial killer. In a conventional opening scene, a baby sitter is threatened when a child is kidnapped.

The child turns out to be the son of an FBI agent played by Dennis Quaid. It's soon learned that the kidnapper is the serial killer Quaid has been chasing for years. Because of policy, the FBI removes Quaid from the case, claiming that he's too personally involved.

The trail leads to Colorado with tense action scenes, including a car hanging over a cliff and a train chase.

The two action scenes are great, but the mystery is pretty shallow. There are not enough suspects. The culprit is easy to predict, but don't expect any help here.

Jeb Stuart, a native of Gastonia, N.C., and a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is making his directorial debut after an impressive record as a screenwriter (``Die Hard'' and ``The Fugitive'').

Danny Glover plays a likable local who rides in a car decorated with naked women. Jared Leto, the young actor whom producer Gayle Ann Hurd says has ``the best movie eyes since Paul Newman,'' is so carefully manicured that he seems unlikely to be a guy stuck in the wilderness. He plays an ex-medical student on the run.

Character actor R. Lee Ermey all but steals the film as the down-home sheriff candidate. Ermey is a natural actor (remember him as one of the parents in ``Dead Man Walking''?).

Quaid, who's been known to have a twinkle of mischief in his roles, plays this one so straight that he appears to be doing an imitation of either Clint Eastwood or Harrison Ford. Badly in need of a hit, he seems determined not to smile or show any emotion throughout the movie.

One wishes Quaid could loosen up enough to smile at least once. ILLUSTRATION: PARAMOUNT

Dennis Quaid plays an FBI agent on the trail of a serial killer who

has kidnapped his son in ``Switchback.''

MOVIE REVIEW

``Switchback''

Cast: Dennis Quaid, Danny Glover, Jared Leto, R. Lee Ermey

Director and Writer: Jeb Stuart

Music: Basil Poledouris

MPAA rating: R (some language, surgical blood)

Mal's rating: **