Reach Me (2014) Reviews

• Intrigueing turns into giant yawn.

  chrismiller882014-12-02

  This movie had me very intrigued at first as I was trying to figure out the characters and I really thought there would be much more to this. Then eventually I started to notice many inexplicable events throughout the movie and that is when I realized that the movie itself was going nowhere and had no real, deep meaning whatsoever. When Teddy is giving his speech at what is falsely portrayed as Redondo pier he begins reciting absurd platitudes in the background and talking about the basic fears of all people (i.e. fear of going to prison). The entire movie is nonsense and about nothing. What really bothered me was when they kept referring to Redondo Beach and showing Venice Beach. Note to Hollywood - We do not have homeless people digging through trashcans in Redondo Beach.

• There really isn't a whole lot to say about this other then it's worth a watch but probably only once.

  cosmo_tiger2014-12-29

  "Why would a best selling author go into hiding?" When a motivational book takes the world by storm. An actor, convict, mobster, and a rapper all swear by the book. Everyone is trying to find out just who the mysterious writer really is. Teddy (Berenger), the author has gone into hiding. When young reporter Roger (Astin) finds him he is the one that tries to motivate Teddy to revel himself. This is a pretty decent movie but there were some flaws in it. First of all there really isn't a standard plot in the movie. This is a movie along the lines of Crash, or the recent Third Person where there are many different stories going on that end up connecting in some way. I did think the movie was OK but it never really grabbed me and made me totally engrossed in it. Stallone really steps out of his comfort zone in this and while not terrible I can see why he sticks to action movies. There really isn't a whole lot to say about this other then it's worth a watch but probably only once. Overall, a movie with a great cast that was just OK. I give this a B-.

• Reaching Rock Bottom

  tigerfish502016-01-08

  'Reach Me' exemplifies the potential pitfalls of a vanity project. Financed by crowd-funding, this mess of a movie demonstrates how producers and bean-counters can prevent an egotistic writer/director from delivering a self-indulgent, audience-tormenting fiasco. Ostensibly the film relates how an inspirational self-help book by a reclusive author affects the lives of a collection of individuals. Unfortunately the platitudes of the fictional book and the embarrassing final product reek of complacency and the loss of critical faculties. Only dope-addled stoners will be able to perceive any coherence in the muddled plot. In addition, most of the characters possess annoying personality traits, and the script obliges them to act out endless sequences of scenes depicting imbecilic behavior. Hopefully the film's brutal rejection by distributors and the public has been a sobering experience for those who conceived the idea, donated their hard-earned cash or allowed themselves to be flattered into participating.

• It's not smartly written but with positive intentions

  breakdownthatfilm-blogspot-com2014-12-04

  When it comes to ensemble cast films, it has been proved time and again, that even with star power, not every film is great. A successful example of a movie like this is Think Like a Man (2012). An exact opposite of this would be Movie 43 (2013), a film with an ensemble cast so large, it surprised everyone when it turned out to be one of the worst and most despised movies of the year according to many for several reasons. What's interesting is that according to some, this is one of those movies that could ruin someone's career. Is that really so? I do understand that this particular production is having a limited public release and was released digitally the same day of its public release (which isn't a good sign). This film though isn't by any means spectacular entertainment, but it does maintain a level of decent quality that should be acknowledged. Even with its flaws it is not the worst movie of the year, by far. The story is when a popular book called "Reach Me" of an anonymous writer under the guise as Teddy Raymond (Tom Berenger) takes the public by storm for its inspirational and self-motivating words. The audience will then be introduced to numerous other story threads revolving around other characters that are connected to the book in some way. Unfortunately, the writing, which is the most essential element, is the weakest. A probable reason why the writing wasn't great was due to the running time. With only about an hour and half of time and more than three character threads, a lot of things have to be condensed. The problem being is that the separate story lines themselves have a few flaws. One flaw being that they are quick. Some scenes pertaining to a certain character thread last all of a minute and then transition over to another story line. It's a bit disorienting when trying to focus on a character. For films like these, it's understood that the focus cannot stay too long on a particular scenario but for only a minute feels slightly too quick to have it even register what just happened. Perhaps director John Herzfeld (who isn't new to the job), should have consulted with editor Steven Cohen so that there was more time for these stories to breathe. Another issue that arises is that not every subplot in each segment is properly concluded. This feels a like a waste in some cases. There's no point in adding it to the story if it will not be concluded. On top of that, several character motivations are left unclear and for those who want an explanation, will feel frustrated, I know I did. With that, some of the actions characters make can feel and look cliché, which doesn't help of course. However, matching these flaws is a number of good points. For one, the ensemble cast is quite diverse. There are several actors from different genres combined into one, under this title. To name some is Kevin Connolly, Sylvester Stallone, Thomas Jane, Lauren Cohan, Kyra Sedgwick, Danny Aiello, David O'Hara, Nelly, Terry Crews and Omari Hardwick. Surprisingly, they all work well off each other. Many of the characters portrayed have charm and acceptable chemistry with their co-stars. This does lead to some believable dramatic and comedic moments through the film. It's not always effective but at times it is. Coinciding with these "dramedy" elements is the score provided by Tree Adams. The score, which is sadly, unreleased, sounds very similar to that of Christopher Lennertz style of composition. This is good because the music appropriately matches the scenes, whether its organ, piano, sax and occasionally strings. There is no main theme and that's also because it isn't really a franchise to begin with. The cinematography provided by Vern Nobles is good too. There's no particular style that Nobles heads for but he does get some very wide panning shots of various scenery and that gives a better idea to the audience of their location. However, the best aspect to this movie, is the message it wants to convey to its audience. That message is gathering the courage to move on no matter what your fear is. It's this kind of life lesson that many people strive to hear from motivation speakers and it is important to understand. This is what the individual story lines work into the development of each character- reaching out to others. Unfortunately, with its negative responses and limited release its not going to be truly recognized. Again, it's not fantastic but it is worth the time to see at least once. Its writing gets cliché at times with unclear character motivations, a few unfinished subplots and choppy editing but its not awful. The actors give charming performances with occasional laughs and heartfelt moments along with good-looking camera work, and appropriate music. Its best element is the "dream big philosophy" that it is based on to help inspire others.

• So Much Talent, So Little Return

  AudioFileZ2015-01-20

  Reach Me on the surface would seem like a humorous romp about self-improvement and the surreptitious intersection of a diverse set of people all needing some. After viewing it one gets the feeling it was just a group of well-known journeymen having a bit of a paid vacation. This movie is fluff from the start. Reach Me segues between the different characters capriciously, never really finding a footing for the story it attempts to weave. The seriousness of everyone's need to take control of their life is made into a bit of a joke so much that there's nothing to invest in, let alone anything resembling real change for the good which, one is to believe, is the point. The fact this movie was funded by people buying into a Kickstarter Campaign is the real story of certain parties self-help, sadly not for a worthy outcome. The performances, save for Connolly and Berenger which are marginally better, are, to coin a phrase "phoned-in". The weak script and "on-vacation" performances just don't make for anything with any substance. Pleasant enough to wade through, but empty in the end underscores the burning questions: why was this made...and, why did I keep watching?