Friday, April 24, 2015

Fromage Fridays #25: Outcast


A cinematic team up that nobody asked for but needed to happen anyway... Yet still doesn't quite happen.





One would think that a meeting as momentous as this would create some sort of singularity of performances. A film starring an actor now famous for overacting even in his phoned in performances and an actor most well known for turning one of cinema’s most iconic original villains, Darth Vader, into a whiny teenage emo almost seems like it would be tonally at war with itself.

How does their chemistry hold? Wonderfully to the point of parody… when they share the screen together.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. “Outcast” stars Hayden Christensen as “Jacob,” a European warrior in Asia that fought in the crusades who finds himself wandering the continent when he stumbles upon a young prince and princess in need of his protection from a general aiming to usurp their power and take the throne for himself.

Nic Cage plays his cynical mentor during the time of the Crusades whom he must mend fences with in the last 15 minutes of the film. What does their time in the Crusades have to do with their current Asian adventures? Nothing at all.

Therein lies the “Outcast’s” biggest problem. It builds up Jacob’s Crusade life and activities to no effect whatsoever. I could give the story’s half-assed effort to make him look like a washed up warrior feeling guilt and regret over the things that he’s seen but none of that is ever actually dealt with, lingered on, connected very well to the film’s present. Instead, “Outcast” is all about the action; its mediocre, poorly edited, shakily shot action, which is so technically amateurish that the impact is knocked out of it before the blows even connect with one another.

Be it fisticuffs, archery, or good old fashioned swashbuckling, everything this movie seems to pride itself on in terms of conflict is terribly bland, which only draws attention to how little life the story has and how painfully obvious Christensen doesn't want to be onscreen.

Truth be told, I had more fun making up a story in my head to contextualize this film than actually watching the film itself. Imagining the opium and alcohol induced Jacob’s redemption quest as a giant allegory for a washed up and cynical Christensen’s post-“Revenge of the Sith” career got so disturbingly hilarious that it almost inspired me to write it up as a pitch for a spiritual successor to “Birdman” starring him. It’s made even worse when, not only does every line read he makes play directly into the notion that he just wants each take to end so he can go get drunk and/or high, but a drunken Nic Cage joins him onscreen in the final act of the film giving a performance that I can only describe as being akin to a subdued drunken European pirate lacking an eye patch.

His inexplicable decision to squint through his entire appearance in the last chunk of the film looks less like an affliction or character tic and more like Cage himself couldn't rub a certain speck out of his eye before the camera started rolling.

I could go on for days about this film’s subtext of has-been actors angry at the world and done with their craft and am almost tempted to because it’s a spin that elevates “Outcast” into a territory that is more entertaining than it manages alone.

1½ Shatners
Bottom Line: While I’m sorely tempted to bump the film up to 2 Shatners, I have to sadly keep in mind that most of what made it an enjoyable watch for me was merely my own conjecture. Though I must ask, isn't that the hallmark of a fun bad movie?

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