Outcome (film): Johah Hill's project falls flat, mostly because of Jonah Hill
I am always a little bit excited when I see that Keanu Reeves is going to attempt something that isn't an action film because for the most part, Keanu is terrible at this sort of acting. His film with Winona Rider in Destination Wedding might be one of the worst films I have ever seen and it kind of showcased the total lack of chemistry between those two and how Keanu can't really act for the most part and this suckage transferred over to Winona as well, who is generally a very good actress.
Outcome was meant to be a dark comedy meaning that the laughs are not meant to be slapstick or intentional but instead about something ironic or even a bit sick, borderline in bad taste.
I kept an open mind even though my served showed me the very poor Metacritic score before I hit play and I made it, hmmm, about 40 minutes into this thing before I couldn't take any more.
The story here is that Keanu plays actor "Reef Hawk" (a stupid name) who is an actor that is held in very high regard but has been away for 5 years due to personal reasons. His public reason is that he was burnt out and wanted to "find himself" in other things but the real reason, which he only discusses with friends was that he was on a heroin binge and did some pretty awful things that he now feels he has to make amends for.
I honestly can say that I feel as though Reeves pulled out some acting chops that I had forgotten he had. He actually does a very good job of not seeming so wooden and stoic in this and dare I say, he actually smiles and has some sad emotional moments in this one that were well out of his wheelhouse and I am impressed.
The problem with this film isn't him, or Cameron Diaz (this film was a sort of reuniting of those two since this is the first thing they have been in together since Feeling Minnesota 30 years ago) who also does a good job in her role as Kyle, a very real and good friend of Reef's.
The problem is with Jonah Hill and his writing, directing, and worst of all, his acting as Ira Slitz, Reef's lawyer.
I'm aware of the Jewish stereotypes that Hollywood agents and lawyers are apparently like but this is just too over-the-top. Jonah could be playing the role perfectly for all I know, but as a member of the audience I found him and his constant use of the word "bub-bee" which as it turns out means "grandmother" and it just doesn't make sense that Ira calls Reef this 20 times in any scene that they are in. His character's mannerisms and attitude is also just annoying AF and again, this may have been intentional due to some sort of beef that Johah has with a specific person in his own life that might have behaved like this towards him.
I think most people are aware of the fact that Jonah has had a bit of a psychological near-meltdown in the past 5 years or so and this might be a reflection on how this came to be. I can't say for sure but it isn't fun to watch on a screen.
The professional reviews as well as the audience reviews for this film are almost entirely negative as it sits around 3/10 on almost all of the major sites. I think it is really dangerous to go after a particular group of people in a film, just ask Mel Gibson.
I just wish that if this was, in fact, Jonah's intention, that he had gone a bit further to just go ahead and show that Ira is a snake and a horrible person.
Instead, this film is just kind of boring. Reef goes to interviews, he does promotions, he talks to people after being coached on how to do it by his team and the only parts of the film that I found interesting is when Reef has a sort of turning point in his life where he realizes that he has been terrible to people over his career and wants to go and apologize to as many of them as will have him. The scene he has with Martin Scorsese is likely one of the best in the entire movie and has a few funny moments with a child actor who does a fantastic job.
I didn't finish this movie, so perhaps it has some sort of amazing ending that I missed out on but based on the near universal disdain for this movie, I doubt that is the case.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQQqInahTAM
Should I watch it?
I think if you have a spare 30 minutes and access to Apple TV that you should at least "pop in" to see that Keanu is actually capable of something other than John Wick action style acting. I don't think he should transition to other work though, although he does seem to be dabbling at the moment. He found his niche and honestly, he should stick to that. Films like this just seem like vanity projects for the stars and it is a wonder to me that they somehow manage to find the funding for it since so few of them actually succeed. Just because you are a good actor (and I strongly believe that Jonah Hill is) doesn't mean you are a good writer and director.
This could be a case study in precisely that sort of thing.