There are surely few more disappointing things in cinema than seeing good actors simply going through the motions in a film that struggles to generate even the faintest level of interest. The Outsider somehow unfortunately manages to achieve this while boasting the legendary James Caan and the usually watchable Jason Patric among its cast. The basic premise is lifted straight from possibly discarded plot points from Taken with barely a hint of subtlety or reverence.
Lex Walker (Craig Fairbrass) is a military contractor who with little noticeable emotion is told his estranged daughter Samantha (Melissa Ordway) is dead. Abandoning his current employment Walker travels to Los Angeles to escort the body home, but on arrival he discovers the body in the morgue is not in fact that of his daughter. As he investigates the mystery he becomes deeply involved in the murky world of cyber crimes and must draw on all his skills to rescue Samantha.
This is a film that does not compare well with its peers. The aforementioned Taken showed what can be done with the action thriller genre but instead of capitalising on that success The Outsider takes many of those simple lessons and ignores them in favour of blunt dialogue, tiresome set pieces and bland repetition. The performances are also problematic with the likeable Fairbrass coming across less like a charismatic Liam Neeson and more like a verbally stunted Vinnie Jones. Patric has so little to do as to be almost in a different film entirely and Caan gives new meaning to remote acting. Fairbrass’ lack of apparent interest is all the more confounding given that he shares writing credits with director Brian A. Miller.
Unfortunately everything is just so formulaic and disappointingly familiar as to render The Outsider dull and predictable. This is a film that belonged in the straight to video section of 1980’s rental stores as it seems that any inspiration required for the story was left there. This is a film you will want to watch, will want to enjoy, perhaps seeking some level of cheesiness reminiscent in early Schwarzenegger fare but even those mixed expectations will not be surpassed.
OVERALL SUMMARY
It is ultimately disappointing then to come across a film such as The Outsider. There is genuine goodwill around for simple, effective and fun action thrillers the like of which Jason Statham and others have built careers upon but The Outsider does nothing to deserve comparison. If nothing else this film proves that creating genre films of this type is no mean feat and perhaps more credit should be given to the filmmakers who do so with skill and talent.
