Beyond the Reach

There's an allure of two men engaging in high stake wit battle. Beyond the Reach has simple premise to produce interesting suspense. The desert setting gives a specific barren and demanding background for survival of the fittest. Unfortunately, the movie loses momentum in midway point as the plot holes are mounting against them. These illogical scenes hamper any suspense the movie has built up from the first half, and unless audiences have generous suspension of disbelief, the last act is completely underwhelming.

Story follows two men as they both hunt in the desert. Ben (Jeremy Irvine) is a guide for Madec (Michael Douglas), right from the start they don't mesh together that well. When an accident happens, their interests clash and things escalate out of control. For the role of powerful ambitious man, Michael Douglas can't be a bad cast as he has repeatedly performed well as such character in many other movies. However, the script gives his character several bad decisions which are contradicting his action merely five minutes ago.

Jeremy Irvine is a good actor, he performed admirably in War Horse and also Woman in Black 2. He's a decent cast, and at first half it's easy to relate to his ordinary character as Ben. Problems arise after the two men trade trickery for their own interests. While the battle of old versus young and the gap of technology might produces a few thrilling moments, the rest of the plot suffers from irrational choices. The plot holes culminate in a bizarre last act, which nullifies any buzz it may have produced.

Visual is presentable, the desert carries the sense of desolation and helplessness adequately. The two main characters don't have the best on-screen spark, though their exchanges of verbal and genuine blows are pretty convincing. Their relationships outside their ordeal in the desert aren't well established and as the movie tries to wrap up, these mismatches and irregular plot twists make the ending hard to take it seriously.

Beyond the Reach is at its peak as men fighting each other and the element, unfortunately it doesn't translate well beyond that and it definitely doesn't end on high note.

Ultra wealthy businessman , Madec (Michael Douglas), needs a new trophy, a long horned sheep. He hires Ben (Jeremy Irvine) as a tracker to hunt in the Mojave Desert. He thinks he spots a long horned sheep and fires, and he and Ben see that Madec has killed Charlie (Martin Palmer) who lived and roamed in the desert. Madec makes a deal with Ben to cover this up. The way he does this is quite clever. Ben agrees then changes his mind. Madec makes Ben take off his clothes to walk the desert hoping Ben will die.

As Ben goes off into the hot burning desert (Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!) Madec tracks him in his $500,000 SUV, his rifle, and with binoculars as he needs to see Ben die; and we keep hoping Ben will find something to get out of this predicament.

The rest of the movie shows Ben struggling to get away from Madec and we do see some surprises so it's not as boring as one might suspect.

The acting is good all around.

The ending isn't what I expected, but it'll do. (5/10)

Violence: Yes. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Language: Soft stuff only.

A small scale thriller in a very wide setting. The Mojave dessert. Off course this film is predictable yet it still had it's surprises and it has a brilliant turn from Michael Douglas as the pervertedly rich and megalomanic exec out on a hunting trip. He is nicely countered by the young guide he takes along as they soon run into a whole heap of unexpected trouble.

This is mostly Jeremy Irvine's film and he does a fine job but it's Douglas who shines in his role. It's almost as if Gordon Gecko has finally made it big and is now wasting his days and money shooting big game all over the world.

The story has plenty of tense and painful moments and some glorious views of the surroundings. The ending however was pretty abrupt. Without going into detail: I was okay with the ending... until it went on. Those last minutes were just so ridiculous they almost ruined the film. It just did not fit the mood of the rest of the story.

Apparently this story has been done before, some 40 years ago, don't know which film, but I know I've seen it more recently starring Lance Henriksen and Luke Goss. The film "Bone Dry". Very comparable, at least as nice as this one and without the ridiculous ending.

So overall pretty good, great turn from Mr Douglas but just walk away at 85 min. 6/10

An old rich guy who likes to hunt pays a young scout to help him find some big game out in the desert. Something goes wrong and the two start a conflict that can't end well.

Michael Douglas still has a solid presence in the screen and you get to see some wild landscape. But the actual plot after the "thing" that will go wrong seems like ridiculous to me and to the people I know they saw the movie. Lots of hasty decisions without thinking.

Anyway, this isn't going to the Oscars but it is somehow watchable and 90 minutes pass relative quickly if you don't mind the, in my opinion, incoherent plot. As a plus you get to see the new Benz 6X6 before it reaches the production line. Reportedly costs more than half a million.

Occasionally we all get needy. So Ben, a young hunting guide, may perhaps be forgiven for taking a large bribe from an arrogant, ridiculously wealthy and fearless client. The two descend into the Mojave Desert wilderness in order to hunt bighorn out of season. There are many red flags to this, yet Ben's girlfriend just left for college and he is left considering if solitude and poverty are in his future. Deep into the desert it is not long before an incident occurs that sets Ben and Madec, a C.E.O. with a sport utility vehicle that costs over half a million dollars, at odds with each other. It is the old-school-young versus the new-technology-old in a delicious thriller. Michael Douglas, starring as Madec, returns to his stock and trade as a depraved and greedy man who lets no one get in the way of himself and his obsessions. Douglas gives a fine performance, yet he can't carry the film on his own. It is far-fetched, shallow and disjointed at times. The film is, however, compelling and fulfilling in its story and the possibilities it presents. It gives truth to Melville's saying that "an utterly fearless companion is a far more dangerous comrade than a coward." Seen at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.