Worth Reaching For I just finished watching "Out Of Reach", and unlike the easily-definable, respective DTV hits and misses like "Urban Justice" and "Submerged", I'm thoroughly undecided about whether or not I like the movie or not. Sure, it's nowhere near the quality of Steven Seagal's theatrical work, but it fails to suck a'la "Out For A Kill". It's got plenty of unlikable attributes that would ruin any other film, but the question that must be considered for all Seagal-starring flicks is whether or not its plusses outweigh its negatives. Let's look at it in an orderly fashion; maybe coming to a conclusion that way will be easier.
Story: Seagal is an ex-agent spending his time helping hurt animals in the woods and writing to his pen-pal, 13-year-old Polish orphan Irena (Ida Nowakowska). When the girl is kidnapped by an international human trafficking ring, Seagal kicks butt to get her back. It sounds original, but plays out a lot like "Shadow Man". However, it's not bogged down by endless sub-plots and convolution: straight-arrow is good for Seagal.
Acting: Fans know not to expect a lot from Seagal, and they shouldn't change this prejudice for the case of "Out Of Reach" - Seagal's his same old mumbly self, but bad-guy Matt Schulze ("The Transporter") bests him for over-the-top hamminess...in a bad way. The rest of the cast is pretty acceptable, though: hero Agnieszka Wagner ("Thomas the Falconer") and baddie Lewis Morton ("Underworld") do good jobs with their roles, and child actors Nowakowska and Jan Plazalski do what's expected of them.
Action: A handful of decently-choreographed martial arts scenes mean a step up for Seagal, who actually does some of his own fighting this time around. A couple of solid gunfights detract from the lack of car chases; however, the climatic sword fight between Seagal and Schulze doesn't match up to those of either "Marked For Death" or "Into The Sun".
Production: The editing is solid and without obvious glitches, though a few too many scenes feature obvious voiceover lines. Even worse, about a third of Seagal's spoken dialogue is dubbed by not one, but two other fellows.
I think I'm warming up to the movie, but purely because it's a Seagalian feature: non-fans of his don't even need to think about checking this one out. The use of the very real crime of human trafficking as a plot device is realistic without being exploitive, and is generally handled very well by director Po-Chih Leong ("The Wisdom of Crocodiles"). Seagal's more likeable in this film than he has been recently, by way of his connection to the young girl via a secret code he taught her, but the lengthy dubbing really gets on your nerves before long. In short, there are most definitely better DTV titles that our hero has done, but even if it's at the bottom of that specific rung, "Out Of Reach" fails to fall into the category of Seagal's "bad" movies. Fans will no doubt remain split about this one...but for what it's worth, it's staying on my shelf.
Unconvincing political fear A small British-Polish thriller that exploits the common fear that lives and thrives in Europe. It is based on two associated lines of menace. On one side the problem of the numerous orphans in Eastern European countries and there illegal immigration into Europe. These orphans are little by little coming out but not through the normal official gate and highway but through some illegal procedure that transforms them into some kind of slaves. The second line is that of prostitution. In this case only girls are concerned, hence only female prostitution is considered. These two lines associate the fear of illegal immigrants, of national identity and its erosion in front of European integration and the moral fear or disgust at prostitution in general and at turning young teenage girls into prostitutes in particular. Then the involvement of some Turkish nationals is neither clear nor necessary but it corresponds to the desire to add an anti-Moslem touch and to fight against a possible integration of Turkey into Europe, a perspective many in Europe are against, though without any convincing arguments. In other words this film is more governed by European interest than anything else, and I mean political interests in this case. That is a real handicap because then the thrill is a lot less powerful and the story is a lot less convincing. The final escape of the two concerned children (what about all the others involved in the traffic in the film?) to the USA is even more surprising. What do Americans have to do with European prostitution?
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines
"out of my mind for renting this Derk" Mr. Seagal passed his prime 6 movies ago but someone didn't tell him. With the weight gain and the beefy cow leg arms Steven looks fat, tired, and just out of gas in this one. Please Steven, stop before you hurt yourself or your fans anymore!!!!!!!!!
Out of Reach Typical Seagal movie. Lots of martial arts and some story. Good film for evenings entertainment
Out of Reach... out of ideas... out of patience...outta here... On the trail of stinky excrements such as The Foreigner and Out for a Kill, current reigning straight-to-video monarch Steven Seagal returns to again inflict upon his ever-dwindling fan base more of his patented scowls, unsubtle enviromental messages, and his ridiculous, past-prime brand of martial arts.
Steven Seagal half-heartedly (and even that might be giving him too much credit) portrays William Lansing, a former special ops agent turned wildlife refuge environmentalist, who travels to Poland to look into why his 13-year-old orphaned buddy Irina Morawska has stopped corresponding (maybe she found out Seagal's 77 years old and is a slug). Lansing unearths a slimy but lucrative slavery ring and comes face to face with malignant main baddie Faisal. It now only remains to see how grisly a fate Faisal will have at the chubby but deadly hands of Lansing.
Out of Reach is utter crapola. The amateurish production values, the corny, highly derivative script and the cringe-worthy acting "performances" cause this video release to plummet faster than an ugly prostitute's self-respect. Seagal's mumbled diction is at an all-time low. At certain points, a voice actor had to dub Seagal's voice because the Green Peace sensei couldn't be bothered to come back to the studio for post-production work (it's so obviously not him doing the voice-over, reading those letters to Irina). The action sequences are so preposterous and so clumsily-set up that even David Carradine is giggling.
I was such a big fan of Seagal when he first exploded on the scene in Above the Law (1988). Back then, he was the epitomy of the film action hero, more down to earth than Van Damme and more realistic than Ah-nold. His first five features were awesome, stripped-down virtuoso cinemas of abrupt, lethal, down-and-dirty ass-kicking. In the 1990s, the fact that he was a man of monosyllabic tendencies only contributed to his cultivated silent but deadly image. He was well on his way to becoming a martial arts icon. Then, sadly, pfffft...
Obviously, Seagal found out that he could still make beaucoup money without putting in a 100 percent effort. Over the years, the man had just let himself go, and it's a damn shame. True, he never was much of an actor: he probably uses his Burger King cash card more often than his SAG card. But now, even the low-rent genre he toils in should be embarassed to have him as a member.
Is it a surprise anymore when we find, in whatever film he's in, that his character has had special super-duper combat training in his past? First of all, if Steven Seagal were to now play a role other than that of an ex-military name-taker and ass-kicker, his Jabba the Hut-sized noggin would probably explode from the unexpected dramaturgical exertion, and all we'll have left of Seagal is the desolate remnants of a ponytail. His acting is now as strained and forced as his trousers belt must be. This is not the worst movie I've ever seen (I once walked out of a Dolph Lundgren flick; The Red Scorpion, I think it was) but it's pretty bad. For the record, Seagal has almost officially surpassed the unlamented Michael Dudikoff in terms of film careers rapidly circling into the toilet. One and a half stars. The rating would be lower but I'm sentimental.
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