Courageous Diane Lane plays a real woman without soft lighting, makeup, a hairdresser, or fancy clothes.

My weekly column, “The Devil’s Hammer,” is posted every Monday. The Devil's Hammer on FTB. If you would like to be included on my distribution list for a weekly preview, just email me at masauu@aol.com.

There was a promotional or press screening for “Untraceable”.

Are you horrified that “Untraceable” depicts a killer who kidnaps victims and broadcasts his sadistic, yet imaginative, torture of them online in real time? The more people who watch, the faster the victim dies. Millions of people log on to watch the victim die.

It’s not that far off. It’s really only one step away. Have you seen 2 Girls 1 Cup?

It’s a phenomenon. It’s garnered a cottage industry of spoofs and YouTube videos showing people reacting to watching it. “2 Girls” has become the benchmark defining our culture. It is already on the official timeline for the Collapse of Mankind. Wikipedia says: “The video was featured on VH1's Best Week Ever, where the video's existence and propagation was declared to cause "Moral Bankruptcy" to have the "Best Week Ever!"

I’ve watched the first 4 seconds of it. I still can’t cleanse myself of those 4 seconds seared into my consciousness. I need a karma purging. I’m going to the Jordan River and get re-baptized by a Chinese Christian sect. And whenever my friends talk about man’s spiritual evolution I’m going to direct them to “2 Girls.” And then I’ll suggest they march right over to WalMart and Costco and see Mankind’s physical devolution.

“Untraceable” stars the divine Diane Lane playing, Lord knows she’s courageous, a real woman! With no fancy clothes, no makeup, no soft lighting, no movie star camera angles, Lane plays a Portland, Oregon FBI cyber-crime agent Jennifer Marsh, widowed and with a young daughter. There’s an evil cyber-genius out there putting his victims death throes online. The guy is super-wealthy and has rigged his website, killwithme.com, that is not only untraceable, it is indestructible.

What’s the outrage? I saw Saddam Hussein, President of Iraq from 1979 to 2003, hanged.

The sado-killer is fearless and without help, he kidnaps, lugs around, kills, then disposes of the bodies.

The setting of Portland, Oregon means it rains a lot. Marsh’s partner, Griffin Dowd (Colin Hanks) is telegraphed as a victim – he trolls the internet for dates. This team can catch cyber-criminals from their cozy office. Marsh knows exactly how the mastermind behind killwithme.com is operating through the vast world wide web. But she can’t catch him.

So he has got to make it easy on her but targeting her and Dowd! Does she leave dreary Portland on a paid leave of absence?

No way! The killer belongs to her. It’s personal now.

The ticking clock is set and millions of people are signing on. But the guy has no advertising! Who is funding his elaborate killings?

Detective Eric Box (Billy Burke) is on the case and thank God, not a love interest. The torture is gruesome but totally in keeping with the trend. Remember long ago when people were shot dead and they didn’t bleed?

The tension is palpable and it’s a mean thriller – until Marsh does something so stupid she deserves to be demoted to the FBI’s secretarial pool.

And frankly, I liked the ending. I certainly do not need the Hollywood wrap-up with Marsh and Det. Box walking along the Malibu Beach holding hands.

Victoria Alexander lives in Las Vegas, Nevada and answers every email. You can contact Victoria directly at masauu@aol.com or by visiting www.FilmsInReview.com.


UNTRACEABLE
Screen Gems
A Lakeshore Entertainment production in association with Cohen/Pearl Prods.


Credits:
Director: Gregory Hoblit
Screenwriters: Robert Fyvolent & Mark R. Brinker and Allison Burnett
Story: Robert Fyvolent & Mark R. Brinker
Producers: Steven Pearl, Andy Cohen, Tom Rosenberg, Gary Lucchesi, Hawk Koch
Executive producers: Richard Wright, Eric Reid, James McQuaide, Harley Tannebaum
Director of photography: Anastas Michos
Production designer: Paul Eads
Music: Christopher Young
Costume designer: Elisabetta Beraldo
Editor: David Rosenbloom


Cast:
Jennifer Marsh: Diane Lane
Detective Eric Box: Billy Burke
Griffin Dowd: Colin Hanks
Owen: Joseph Cross
Stella: Mary Beth Hurt


Running time -- 100 minutes
MPAA rating: R