Look up, just below the title of this article, at those little yellow boxes. You’ll see tags, allowing you to search our site for articles tagged with the same term, word, or name. See how many there are for this article? A cornucopia of talent, recognizable names; plenty to make this a film that may be worth watching, right? Wrong.
THE MOVIEReach Me throws together a host of characters, each with their own personal problems. They converge through a central plot device, a self-help book by a secretive author named Teddy (Tom Berenger). Those touched by his words range from a man struggling with Tourette’s syndrome to a former gang member, a gangster, and a woman trying to find a better path in life after prison, among others. Taking advantage of the huge interest in the book, a journalist (Sylvester Stallone) tasks his employee Roger (Kevin Connolly) with finding Teddy in order to exploit his surging popularity. The film follows the characters, all seeking to redeem themselves and find a better path, bringing them all together as Teddy is brought into the open and revealed to have issues of his own.
It’s another in a line of “life affirming” films where the story is revealed through interconnecting lives. The talent thrown at the project cannot save it from the simple fact that the characters are unengaging and encumbered with sloppy writing in a film that veers from one tale to another with all the grace God gave a baby giraffe. It wheels out the traditional tropes and cliches you would expect, but throws so many balls into the air it manages to catch none of them. There is enough talent involved in the film to make it mildly intriguing, with performances of the caliber you would expect, but as it builds to its supposed climax it picks up little pace or intensity. Lives are being changed, and there is no sense of urgency imbued into proceedings. It’s a interesting concept that such a flawed person can offer insight and touch many similarly damaged people, but little is done to craft characters of interest or individuality to engage the viewer.
Some make take solace in the life affirming positive message the film shows, with people from so many walks of life finding comfort and strength, but the reality is that it is a sprawling, unfocused, and trite mess that achieves little in the way of emotional resonance.
THE PACKAGEImage quality is crisp and looks great overall. The variety of storylines take in a number of different scenes, which all transfer well from bright outdoor scenes to darker interiors. For a seemingly low budget film, it at least looks solidly made.
The disc includes no additional special features.
THE BOTTOM LINEWith a glance at the cover and cast list of Reach Me, one may be tempted to give it a whirl. Sadly it turns out that not one, but more than fifteen reasonably well regarded actors attached themselves to a project as insipid as this. It plays out in a predictable manner, showing little in the way of cohesion or structure of character development. Reach Me…I wish it hadn’t.