BEYOND THE REACH (Jean-Baptiste Léonetti). 94 minutes. Rating: NNN
Where to watch: iTunes
Beyond The Reach is The Most Dangerous Game set in the Mojave Desert, featuring a truly demented bad guy turn by Michael Douglas and an ending whose implausibility only adds to the popcorn-flick fun.
Douglas plays Madec, a wealthy L.A. financier who arrives in the desert in his tricked-out SUV to shoot game, aided by local boy Ben (War Horse’s Jeremy Irvine). When Ben refuses to cover up an accident, Madec forces him to strip down to his skivvies and start running for his life. Ben becomes the prey.
This pic has more reversals than a Road Runner cartoon, and the presence of a case of dynamite could be read as a Looney Tunes homage. But the sunbaked setting and swift pacing help the first half speed by.
Things go way off track at the end, but the always game Douglas gleefully chews up the scenery and has a riot delivering some jaw-droppingly bad lines. This is a film you need to see with a big, lusty audience so you can yell at the screen at the end.
