Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		2.5

Reach Me Blu-ray Movie Review

Reach out or leave it on the shelf?

Reviewed by Martin Liebman December 23, 2014

Reach Me, a movie about a handful of different people suffering from different phobias, addictions, and various personal problems and whose lives slowly see improvement thanks to a hit self-help book, was plagued with production problems that required the filmmakers to take to Internet donation sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo in hopes of funding and finishing the film. It feels like a sad little irony, but then again help does start, the movie suggests, by acknowledging a problem and extending a hand out, or on the flip side an outside source identifying an issue and offering to help fix it. Yet it's also ironic considering the sheer number of stars and recognizable faces that dot that movie and appear in practically every scene in some form or fashion. One would think that, with that much talent, there had to be some other way to fund the picture, but nevertheless here it is, in its entirety, regardless who paid for it or how it all came together. It's not an awful film, but it is rather trite, a pebble in a growing collection of "divergent characters interconnect" movies that, for better or for worse, seems to be the genre that just won't go away, no matter how uninspiring the results. Reach Me ranks somewhere around dead-center, nearly defining the genre to perfection but not really doing anything interesting with it by the end.

Let me confess!

A new, best-selling self-help book entitled Reach Me is sweeping the nation. Its author, a recluse named Teddy (Tom Berenger), has opted to stay out of the spotlight rather than bask in his success. The film follows several people who are in some way positively influenced by the book. A rapper and former prison inmate named E-Ruption (Nelly) credits the book with literally saving his life from a shank to the gut in the joint. It's also helped him become a better person and he's turned himself something of a motivational speaker. Another ex-inmate, the just-released Collette (Kyra Sedgwick), finds herself inspired to pursue her dreams in the fashion industry. Tommy (Christoph M. Ohrt) and Denise-Denise (Rebekah Chaney) are struggling for money and are in hiding from a gangster (Tom Sizemore) and his lackeys, the latter of whom are slowly coming around to the truths the book preaches. A sleazy journalist (Sylvester Stallone) and his cigarette-addicted partner Roger (Kevin Connolly) effort to track down the elusive Teddy. A cop (Thomas Jane) who is addicted to murder seeks solace in his alcoholic priest (Danny Aiello). The film also follows Kate (Lauren Cohan), Teddy's media surrogate, and Jack (Cary Elwes), a man with Tourette syndrome.

Unfortunately, a star-studded cast can't help a fairly flat movie that doesn't go anywhere of significant dramatic value. It feels empty and hollow, rarely uplifting but for a few key scenes that see the characters pushing hard to solve their problems. The picture doesn't suffer from empty characters; it manages to portray them with some flavor, though still without much depth beyond their single-sentence or adjective/noun descriptors, such as "a cop who thrives on killing suspects" and "sleazy journalist," and the like. They fill a role and do so as admirably as they can in a movie with so many characters and so few minutes to go around. Even as the stories converge the film rarely feels like it has expanded its stretch or broadened the audience's horizons. Even if all of the outcomes aren't necessarily predictable, the general vibe certainly is transparent almost from the get-go. Reach Me simply doesn't offer much depth, trying to duplicate other films of its style but largely coming up empty-handed by the end.

What the film seems to want to say, above all else, is that there is positive change inside of everyone willing to reach down for it, helped, maybe, by a few encouraging words along the way. It's nicely realized in one particular scene when Roger is convinced to give up smoking, but the movie never really otherwise hits a stride of real, feel-good, encouraging ups for its characters. The audience will walk away feeling like the movie only has mostly trite, cookie-cutter platitudes to offer, the kinds of things that are found in half of the other self-help books out there. If there's more depth than that, the movie doesn't do that great of a job at showing it. Chances are most will simply watch for the all-star cast and hope to find a hidden gem, but sadly all that's here is a familiar empty vessel that finds a few good beats along the way but otherwise falls rather flat throughout, all the way through to its disappointingly vapid finale.

Reach Me Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Reach Me begins with a gritty black-and-white open that gives way to a clean, smooth HD picture. The 1080p presentation offers up excellent image clarity and quality detailing, from urban pavements and building façades to intimate facial features and clothing lines. There are nice, bold greens visible on a golf course which also reveals complex grass details -- even at some distance -- with commendable accuracy. Colors in general are pleasing and even, nicely balanced and never appearing too overcooked or too pale. Skin tones never stray too far from the natural but blacks are little more prone to giving up authenticity and push purple. Heavy noise also appears across some darker backgrounds and surfaces, and banding can be seen slathered across some areas within the film. This is, in essence, a fairly good example of a lower budget modern HD shoot transferred to Blu-ray, embodying all the good and bad that comes with it.

Reach Me Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Reach Me features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The presentation is mostly straightforward, with dialogue dominating the proceedings. It comes through clearly and intelligibly with natural center channel presence. Music is commendably clear and rich, with fine natural stage placement and immersion. Ambient effects, such as rolling waves, gentle thunder, or seagulls help better define the film's sonic landscape and pull the listener into its world. A few gunshots hit hard in one occurrence, representing the single-most potent element the track has to offer. Mostly, however, this is a straightforward listen defined almost in total by dialogue and that mood ambience.

Reach Me Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

All that's included are previews for Reach Me, Fading Gigolo, Are You Here, Automata, and The Humbling.

Reach Me Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Reach Me will likely be remembered for its all-star cast -- the list covers half the Blu-ray box -- but not much else. It's another fairly empty entrant into the multi-character/multi-story line/everything-converge-at-the-end style that's been done to death in recent years, particularly around the indie scene, and to varying results. Reach Me might embody the genre through-and-through, but it doesn't go anywhere with its potential or leave the audience feeling any wiser, or better, for having watched it. There's no room for real, tangible character growth, leaving most of the players jumping from points rather than following a better defined arc. It's worth a watch, but most won't reach out for it again. Millennium Entertainment's Blu-ray release of Reach Me delivers good video and audio. No extras beyond the trailer are included. Rent it.