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Switchback

  • 19971997
  • RR
  • 1h 58m
IMDb RATING
6.4/10
14K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
6,056
657
Switchback (1997)
Watch Official Trailer
Play trailer1:52
1 Video
99+ Photos
CrimeMysteryThriller
An FBI agent tries to catch a serial killer who kidnapped his son.An FBI agent tries to catch a serial killer who kidnapped his son.An FBI agent tries to catch a serial killer who kidnapped his son.
IMDb RATING
6.4/10
14K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
6,056
657
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Director
      • Jeb Stuart
    • Writer
      • Jeb Stuart
    • Stars
      • Danny Glover
      • Dennis Quaid
      • Claudia Stedelin
    Top credits
    • Director
      • Jeb Stuart
    • Writer
      • Jeb Stuart
    • Stars
      • Danny Glover
      • Dennis Quaid
      • Claudia Stedelin
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 107User reviews
    • 41Critic reviews

    Videos1

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 1:52
    Official Trailer

    Photos161

    Switchback (1997)
    Switchback (1997)
    Switchback (1997)
    Switchback (1997)
    Switchback (1997)
    Switchback (1997)
    Merle Kennedy in Switchback (1997)
    Danny Glover in Switchback (1997)
    Danny Glover in Switchback (1997)
    Dennis Quaid in Switchback (1997)
    Orville Stoeber in Switchback (1997)
    Jared Leto and Leo Burmester in Switchback (1997)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Danny Glover
    Danny Glover
    • Bob Goodall
    Dennis Quaid
    Dennis Quaid
    • Frank LaCrosse
    Claudia Stedelin
    Claudia Stedelin
    • Babysitter
    Ian Nelson
    • Andy LaCrosse
    Brent Hinkley
    Brent Hinkley
    • Man on Porch
    R. Lee Ermey
    R. Lee Ermey
    • Sheriff Buck Olmstead
    Walton Goggins
    Walton Goggins
    • Bud
    • (as Walt Goggins)
    Ted Levine
    Ted Levine
    • Nate
    Louis Schaefer
    • Sim
    William Fichtner
    William Fichtner
    • McGinnis
    Jared Leto
    Jared Leto
    • Lane Dixon
    Robert L. Somers
    • Rancher
    Lexie Stuart
    • Ranchers Daughter
    Ted Markland
    Ted Markland
    • Bartender
    Gregory Scott Cummins
    Gregory Scott Cummins
    • Rick
    Tommy Puett
    Tommy Puett
    • Ben
    Stuart Proud Eagle Grant
    • Luke
    • (as Stuart Grant)
    Ken Thorley
    Ken Thorley
    • Morgue Attendant
    • Director
      • Jeb Stuart
    • Writer
      • Jeb Stuart
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Kidnapped

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      According to an interview with writer and director Jeb Stuart in Premiere magazine, he had originally intended to make this movie back in the 1980s, under the title "Going West in America", with Sidney Poitier, Robert Duvall, and Kevin Bacon in the three main roles.
    • Goofs
      In several scenes, squealing tires are heard from a car skidding on a snow-packed road. Tires do not squeal on snow.
    • Quotes

      Sheriff Buck Olmstead: The guy was a killer, Frank.

      Frank LaCrosse: Yeah, but he wasn't a liar.

    • Connections
      Featured in At the Movies: Gattaca/The House of Yes/A Life Less Ordinary/FairyTale: A True Story/Sunday (1997)
    • Soundtracks
      Safe in the Arms of Love
      Written by Pamela Rose (as Pam Rose), Mary Ann Kennedy, and Pat Bunch

      Performed by Martina McBride

      Courtesy of The RCA Records label of BMG Entertainment

    User reviews107

    Review
    Top review
    An under-rated top-notch serial killer thriller.
    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.
    helpful•58
    9
    • joyceglasser
    • May 15, 2001

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 31, 1997 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Going West
    • Filming locations
      • Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA
    • Production companies
      • Pacific Western
      • Paramount Pictures
      • Rysher Entertainment
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $37,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $6,492,660
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $2,704,568
      • Nov 2, 1997
    • Gross worldwide
      • $6,492,660
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 58 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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