Adapted from Robb White’s novel “Deathwatch”, The Reach comes from sophomore filmmaker Jean-Baptiste Léonetti. Léonetti’s debut feature Carré blanc played at TIFF several years ago, and despite its flaws it showed a filmmaker with a great sense of atmosphere and visual style. Now the French director makes a crossover to the United States, directing a thriller with Michael Douglas in one of the lead roles. But The Reach shows all the usual signs of a foreign filmmaker making a clumsy transition to America.

Douglas plays Madec, a rich businessman wanting to hunt for bighorn sheep in the Mojave Desert. Young Ben (Jeremy Irvine) is assigned as his guide for the hunting trip, and the two set out in Madec’s massive, six-wheel SUV. Ben’s moral purity clashes with Madec’s greedy capitalist way of life, a tension that finally explodes when Madec mistakes an old prospector for an animal, shooting and killing the old man. Ben wants to go to the authorities, but Madec, who’s in the middle of selling his business to China, refuses to let anything compromise his business deal. Madec turns on Ben, forcing him to strip and walk through the desert until he succumbs to the heat. From there it’s a cat and mouse game, with Ben using his knowledge of the area to repeatedly do his best to escape Madec.

If that premise sounds stupid, that’s because it is. Ben finds one possible way out after another, but Madec continually manages to stop him from succeeding, and this structure is insanely boring. Madec’s reasons for forcing Ben to slowly cook under the sun are flimsy at best, and idiotic at worst. Léonetti throws some nice shots of the desert in, but aside from that his work is surprisingly ugly to watch. Irvine shows off his body quite a bit (something Léonetti clearly enjoys, given how much the camera ogles Irvine’s abs), but he’s as bland as a 2×4 and can’t fake an American accent very well. Michael Douglas makes the most of his role, playing up the seediness of Madec, but he can’t do a single thing to fix the atrocious lines he has to deliver. He acts like a villain in a video game, at one point literally hurling dynamite from his SUV similar to Donkey Kong throwing barrels at Mario, and the quality of the screenplay is about on par with a video game. Case in point: At one point Douglas says “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice…I KILL YOU!” If Jeff Dunham ever needs someone to fill in for him, Michael Douglas wouldn’t be a bad pick.

An overbearing score doesn’t help make things better, but the biggest offense comes in the final act. From there, The Reach goes from banal thriller to something hilariously awful, starting with one character’s random escape on a helicopter (I thought that sort of thing stopped in the ’80s?). The ending, significantly different from the source material, feels tacked on, like a move from producers to ensure a closer that will please audiences. If that’s the case, then their attention should have went to the rest of the film instead. Too inept to be taken as a good B-movie thriller, The Reach’s entertainment value is just as dry and empty as its vast desert location. It’s a film bound to rot in VOD purgatory, a fate it fully deserves.

Published under the original title The Reach on September 8th as part of our TIFF coverage.

Tonight marked the 20th anniversary of the Screen Actors Guild Award show, an award ceremony that has become a great precursor to help predict how the acting categories could turn out for the Oscars. The biggest reason for this is that the actors who make up this guild also make up a large part of the voting group for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Tonight Lupita Nyong’o took home a Screen Actors Guild Award for her brilliant role of 12 Years a Slave, beating out Jennifer Lawrence who recently won at the Golden Globes. Arguably the most exciting category was for the Best Male Lead category, where Matthew McConaughey, Bruce Dern, and Chiwetel Ejiofor all had a fair shot of winning. Though it was Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club) who puts himself in the front of the race for the Oscar with the win here. McConaughey’s counterpart in the film, Jared Leto, also walked away a winner. Unsurprisingly, Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine) won for Best Female Lead and American Hustle for ensemble cast.

On the television side of things, Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) and Michael Douglas (Behind the Candelabra) continued to add to their trophy collection from their Golden Globes wins from last week. Other big winners were Julia Louis-Dreyfus for Veep and Maggie Smith for Downton Abbey. Also, Rita Moreno received a Lifetime Achievement Award for her work in film, broadway, music, and television.

The full list of 2014 Screen Actors Guild Award Winners:

Film

Outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture
12 Years a Slave
American Hustle
August: Osage County
Dallas Buyers Club
Lee Daniels’ The Butler

Outstanding performance by a male actor in a leading role
Bruce Dern, Nebraska
Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
Tom Hanks, Captain Phillips
Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club
Forest Whitaker, The Butler

Outstanding performance by a female actor in a leading role
Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Sandra Bullock, Gravity
Judi Dench, Philomena
Meryl Streep, August: Osage County
Emma Thompson, Saving Mr. Banks

Outstanding performance by a male actor in a supporting role
Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips
Daniel Brühl, Rush
Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave
James Gandolfini, Enough Said
Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

Outstanding performance by a female actor in a supporting role
Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle
Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave
Julia Roberts, August: Osage County
June Squibb, Nebraska
Oprah Winfrey, The Butler

Television

Outstanding performance by an ensemble in a drama series
Boardwalk Empire
Breaking Bad
Downton Abbey
Game of Thrones
Homeland

Outstanding performance by an ensemble in a comedy series
30 Rock
Arrested Development
The Big Bang Theory
Modern Family
Veep

Outstanding performance by a male actor in a drama series
Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom
Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones
Kevin Spacey, House of Cards

Outstanding performance by a female actor in a drama series
Claire Danes, Homeland
Anna Gunn, Breaking Bad
Jessica Lange, American Horror Story: Coven
Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey
Kerry Washington, Scandal

Outstanding performance by a male actor in a comedy series
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Jason Bateman, Arrested Development
Ty Burrell, Modern Family
Don Cheadle, House of Lies
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory

Outstanding performance by a female actor in a comedy series
Mayim Bialik, The Big Bang Theory
Julie Bowen, Modern Family
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep

Outstanding performance by a male actor in a television movie or miniseries
Matt Damon, Behind the Candelabra
Michael Douglas, Behind the Candelabra
Jeremy Irons, The Hollow Crown
Rob Lowe, Killing Kennedy
Al Pacino, Phil Spector

Outstanding performance by a female actor in a television movie or miniseries
Angela Bassett, Betty & Coretta
Helena Bonham Carter, Burton and Taylor
Holly Hunter, Top of the Lake
Helen Mirren, Phil Spector
Elisabeth Moss, Top of the Lake

As a child, when staying at a motel or sleepovers with friends with premium cable, watching HBO always felt sneaky. You never knew what un-edited adult gem you’d come across. Watching Behind the Candelabra I was suddenly transported back to those days–and I’d hit the motherload. A behind the scenes look at one of the world’s greatest entertainers: Wladziu Valentino Liberace or, as the world knew him, simply Liberace.

Considering the man made a career of wooing and winning the hearts of many a purple-haired granny, his story wouldn’t seem to fit in with the typically nitty-gritty fanfare of HBO original films. But Behind the Candelabra, based on the tell-all book, can hang with the dirtiest of them. Bringing in HBO’s highest ratings since 2004, the film follows Scott Thorson (Matt Damon), who met Liberace (Michael Douglas), or Lee as his friends called him, when he was only 17. While Matt Damon can’t quite pull off 17, Douglas is a bit old to be playing Liberace anyways, but facial prosthetics (featured a bit too prominently in this film) aid in making him just like the original. With one tour of his gold-gilded home, a dip in the hot tub, and some words of wisdom from Lee about animals, “…they love you no matter what, that’s what makes them dumb animals, I guess,” and Scott is quickly on his way to being another one of Lee’s precious animals lovers.

The film moves quickly, not stopping to focus on the actual attraction between Lee and Scott, just jumping into the relationship. Between sex scenes Lee convinces Scott to have plastic surgery to look like him. He discusses adopting him. Scott develops a pill popping addiction, introduced to him by his scene-stealing plastic surgeon played by Rob Lowe. Before Scott knows it, Lee is over him, ready to move on to the next pretty young thing.

This is supposed to be Steven Soderbergh’s last film. He’s vowed to retire, and if that’s true it’s a shame he had to end it with a film that could only find distribution through premium cable television. Studios wouldn’t touch the film, afraid it was just too ‘gay’. And although the man denied his homosexuality up until the day he died of complications with HIV, he really was the most flamboyant entertainer in show business. However, being “too gay” is not the main fault I find with this film. Instead it’s the complete lack of romance, gay or straight. There’s glitz, there’s glam, there’s grit, but there is none of the pizzazz that any quick YouTube search of Liberace will show you the man possessed.

Michael Douglas recreates Liberace’s performances to the T, and his accent and mannerisms seem to be spot on, but he just doesn’t exude the sort of enchantment that kept Mr. Showmanship the top paid entertainer for 20 years running. There just doesn’t seem to be enough of Liberace’s theatrics and allure present to find him believable, as both an entertainer and a lover. And while Damon plays Thorson credibly naïve, his character’s immaturity doesn’t allow for much intimacy. The film picks up as the two become pitted against each other after the break-up, but then tries for an emotional ending with lukewarm results. Douglas and Damon give fantastic performances, just not the right ones.

Behind the Candelabra is a well-crafted film with two remarkable lead actors. It stands out among HBO original films and has enough dirt to satisfy 7 year-old me, but not enough genuine emotion to satisfy adult me. Too much shock, not enough awww, but a bold last go from Steven Soderbergh. A man who will continue to keep us wanting more.

Haywire is the new icy cold globe-trotting film from veteran director Steven Soderbergh. It’s a lean and mean thriller that starts in Upstate New York and works its way all over the world. From Barcelona to Dublin to the desert of New Mexico and back to New York again, Haywire is everywhere. I personally saw Haywire as a great throwback to spy and espionage thrillers of the 70’s. Everything from the music, to the cinematography and editing seemed to be celebrating that generation of secret agents.

Former real life MMA fighter Gina Carano takes lead in the film as Mallory, a freelance black ops operative who seeks revenge against her employers who betray her after a rescue mission in Barcelona. She is beautiful, mysterious and most of all, deadly.

The film begins with Mallory sitting in a booth at a small café in Upstate New York. She sits. She waits. Suddenly a man walks in and sits down at her table. The man is played by Channing Tatum. He asks her to turn herself in. Make it easier on herself. She declines and the within seconds Mallory is fighting for her life.

Mallory escape the café brawl with a young man in tow. They take his car and flee the scene. While this happens the movie cuts to the Barcelona job where we Mallory leading a team of operatives to the aid of a hostage. This team includes Tatum’s character with whom Mallory hooks up with after the mission is complete. This makes the opening scene all the more interesting.

Once the Barcelona job is done, Mallory returns to the States only to be recruited on another European mission by her employer played by Ewan McGregor. He is a snaky and sly person who seems to never be telling the truth with anyone. Mallory is sent to Dublin to meet up with another secret agent. He is name is Paul and is played by Michael Fassbender. Fassbender is having one hell of a career at the moment. He seems to be everywhere.

In Dublin, Mallory and Paul are in Dublin pretending to be a married couple. We soon find out that Mallory was sent there to be killed by Paul. This leads to an extremely brutal fight in a hotel room between the two. I can’t remember the last time I saw a fight on film that was so barbaric. The first that comes to mind is the climactic fight in William Friedkin’s The Hunted. They beat each other to a pulp.

At this point Mallory discovers she has been set up and sets out to exact revenge on those who betrayed her. After Dublin, she is back in the U.S. And now in terms of the plot we are back at the beginning of the film in New York.

Haywire if anything is a very efficient thriller. Like I said earlier, it’s extremely lean. The movie doesn’t concern itself with anything other than its main objective, Mallory’s quest for revenge. The movie is edited in a very slick manner. Cutting back and forth between previous missions and present time, the movie is constantly alive.

Soderbergh uses different colors and hues to distinguish which setting we are in. This makes it easy for the audience to figure out where in the timeline we are. Barcelona uses a warm palate, Dublin more of an icy blue.

The cinematography (by Soderbergh himself) is very well done. The brighter scenes have really nice warmth to them, reflecting the sunny locations of Barcelona and other parts Spain. When the blues are present they crisp and cold, hinting at the loneliness of the life of a secret agent.

The big talking point about Haywire seems to be Carano and her acting. When the film began I’ll be honest I wasn’t that impressed. But as the movie wore on, I honestly couldn’t picture anyone else in the role. Carano is a good choice because she isn’t known as an actress. She doesn’t know how to be a flashy movie star. She’s known for kicking butt, something she does very well in this film. Soderbergh doesn’t give her a lot of dialogue to begin with, but when she has some she delivers it just fine.

Another person I want to bring up is Channing Tatum. A few years ago I could not stand him as an actor. He seemed so awkward on camera, almost as if he didn’t belong there. But recently his choices of films have been great for his career. He’s having a great 2012 at the moment. He was first in Haywire. Then The Vow, which even I thought was pretty decent. Then he did 21 Jump Street, which was a critical success. Next he’s in a film called Magic Mike by none other than Soderbergh.

Haywire is smart, brutal and at times very fun. It’s a very confident spy film that doesn’t insult its audience. It plays to its strengths and has almost no weaknesses. The film has no fat on its bones and moves along at a consistent enough pace to keep the viewer interested and like most great espionage films has a lot of style.