User Reviews

"Why would a best selling author go into hiding?" When a motivational book takes the world by storm. An actor, convict, mobster, and a rapper all swear by the book. Everyone is trying to find out just who the mysterious writer really is. Teddy (Berenger), the author has gone into hiding. When young reporter Roger (Astin) finds him he is the one that tries to motivate Teddy to revel himself. This is a pretty decent movie but there were some flaws in it. First of all there really isn't a standard plot in the movie. This is a movie along the lines of Crash, or the recent Third Person where there are many different stories going on that end up connecting in some way. I did think the movie was OK but it never really grabbed me and made me totally engrossed in it. Stallone really steps out of his comfort zone in this and while not terrible I can see why he sticks to action movies. There really isn't a whole lot to say about this other then it's worth a watch but probably only once. Overall, a movie with a great cast that was just OK. I give this a B-.

When it comes to ensemble cast films, it has been proved time and again, that even with star power, not every film is great. A successful example of a movie like this is Think Like a Man (2012). An exact opposite of this would be Movie 43 (2013), a film with an ensemble cast so large, it surprised everyone when it turned out to be one of the worst and most despised movies of the year according to many for several reasons. What's interesting is that according to some, this is one of those movies that could ruin someone's career. Is that really so? I do understand that this particular production is having a limited public release and was released digitally the same day of its public release (which isn't a good sign). This film though isn't by any means spectacular entertainment, but it does maintain a level of decent quality that should be acknowledged. Even with its flaws it is not the worst movie of the year, by far.

The story is when a popular book called "Reach Me" of an anonymous writer under the guise as Teddy Raymond (Tom Berenger) takes the public by storm for its inspirational and self-motivating words. The audience will then be introduced to numerous other story threads revolving around other characters that are connected to the book in some way. Unfortunately, the writing, which is the most essential element, is the weakest. A probable reason why the writing wasn't great was due to the running time. With only about an hour and half of time and more than three character threads, a lot of things have to be condensed. The problem being is that the separate story lines themselves have a few flaws. One flaw being that they are quick. Some scenes pertaining to a certain character thread last all of a minute and then transition over to another story line. It's a bit disorienting when trying to focus on a character. For films like these, it's understood that the focus cannot stay too long on a particular scenario but for only a minute feels slightly too quick to have it even register what just happened. Perhaps director John Herzfeld (who isn't new to the job), should have consulted with editor Steven Cohen so that there was more time for these stories to breathe.

Another issue that arises is that not every subplot in each segment is properly concluded. This feels a like a waste in some cases. There's no point in adding it to the story if it will not be concluded. On top of that, several character motivations are left unclear and for those who want an explanation, will feel frustrated, I know I did. With that, some of the actions characters make can feel and look cliché, which doesn't help of course. However, matching these flaws is a number of good points. For one, the ensemble cast is quite diverse. There are several actors from different genres combined into one, under this title. To name some is Kevin Connolly, Sylvester Stallone, Thomas Jane, Lauren Cohan, Kyra Sedgwick, Danny Aiello, David O'Hara, Nelly, Terry Crews and Omari Hardwick. Surprisingly, they all work well off each other. Many of the characters portrayed have charm and acceptable chemistry with their co-stars. This does lead to some believable dramatic and comedic moments through the film. It's not always effective but at times it is.

Coinciding with these "dramedy" elements is the score provided by Tree Adams. The score, which is sadly, unreleased, sounds very similar to that of Christopher Lennertz style of composition. This is good because the music appropriately matches the scenes, whether its organ, piano, sax and occasionally strings. There is no main theme and that's also because it isn't really a franchise to begin with. The cinematography provided by Vern Nobles is good too. There's no particular style that Nobles heads for but he does get some very wide panning shots of various scenery and that gives a better idea to the audience of their location. However, the best aspect to this movie, is the message it wants to convey to its audience. That message is gathering the courage to move on no matter what your fear is. It's this kind of life lesson that many people strive to hear from motivation speakers and it is important to understand. This is what the individual story lines work into the development of each character- reaching out to others. Unfortunately, with its negative responses and limited release its not going to be truly recognized. Again, it's not fantastic but it is worth the time to see at least once.

Its writing gets cliché at times with unclear character motivations, a few unfinished subplots and choppy editing but its not awful. The actors give charming performances with occasional laughs and heartfelt moments along with good-looking camera work, and appropriate music. Its best element is the "dream big philosophy" that it is based on to help inspire others.

Continuing my plan to watch every Sly Stallone movie in order, I come to Reach Me/The Collection

Plot In A Paragraph: A motivational book written by a mysterious man quickly gains popularity, inspiring a group of people to re-evaluate their choices and decisions by confronting their fears in hopes of creating more positive lives.

Where to start with this one.

Our main man Sly also keeps it subtle and low-key throughout, briefly raising his tone. Sadly the movie is disappointing, almost instantly forgettable, and without enough spectacular Sly moments to make a film worth rewatching.

The movie is a bit of a mess. Most of the cast seem to have wandered onto the set from another film. The characters meet up have some chats, And that is kind of all there is. Overall there's nothing to keep us interested. With the exception of Sly, Thomas Janes character was the only one I was interested in seeing on screen.

This movie had me very intrigued at first as I was trying to figure out the characters and I really thought there would be much more to this. Then eventually I started to notice many inexplicable events throughout the movie and that is when I realized that the movie itself was going nowhere and had no real, deep meaning whatsoever. When Teddy is giving his speech at what is falsely portrayed as Redondo pier he begins reciting absurd platitudes in the background and talking about the basic fears of all people (i.e. fear of going to prison). The entire movie is nonsense and about nothing. What really bothered me was when they kept referring to Redondo Beach and showing Venice Beach. Note to Hollywood - We do not have homeless people digging through trashcans in Redondo Beach.

The good point - a splendid cast, especially Sylvester Stalone remembering his artistic potential.The bad point - the story. Nice , interesting, with a decent start and a gray fall. The excuse - the familiar pieces from an old recipe. The not great detail - the absence of experience for use, in reasonable manner, the story. It is a nice try. Nothing more. Like a too simple and untasty food with expensive ingredients made.

'Reach Me' exemplifies the potential pitfalls of a vanity project. Financed by crowd-funding, this mess of a movie demonstrates how producers and bean-counters can prevent an egotistic writer/director from delivering a self-indulgent, audience-tormenting fiasco. Ostensibly the film relates how an inspirational self-help book by a reclusive author affects the lives of a collection of individuals. Unfortunately the platitudes of the fictional book and the embarrassing final product reek of complacency and the loss of critical faculties.

Only dope-addled stoners will be able to perceive any coherence in the muddled plot. In addition, most of the characters possess annoying personality traits, and the script obliges them to act out endless sequences of scenes depicting imbecilic behavior. Hopefully the film's brutal rejection by distributors and the public has been a sobering experience for those who conceived the idea, donated their hard-earned cash or allowed themselves to be flattered into participating.

Reach Me on the surface would seem like a humorous romp about self-improvement and the surreptitious intersection of a diverse set of people all needing some. After viewing it one gets the feeling it was just a group of well-known journeymen having a bit of a paid vacation.

This movie is fluff from the start. Reach Me segues between the different characters capriciously, never really finding a footing for the story it attempts to weave. The seriousness of everyone's need to take control of their life is made into a bit of a joke so much that there's nothing to invest in, let alone anything resembling real change for the good which, one is to believe, is the point.

The fact this movie was funded by people buying into a Kickstarter Campaign is the real story of certain parties self-help, sadly not for a worthy outcome. The performances, save for Connolly and Berenger which are marginally better, are, to coin a phrase "phoned-in". The weak script and "on-vacation" performances just don't make for anything with any substance. Pleasant enough to wade through, but empty in the end underscores the burning questions: why was this made...and, why did I keep watching?

2.9 of 10. If this were a satire of self-help books/videos/whatever, it may have turned out better. As an indication of the writer's/director's inability and possibly the misunderstanding of Kickstarter financiers who may have assumed it was intended to be ironic, Reach Me fails to reach beyond self promotion and getting a cast of Hollywood zombies/ex-stars a paycheck.

I liked that the title and story interact/self-reference each other, but that's only enough to provide an artistic intro for the story and keeping your interest for about 15 minutes awaiting something more. What you get are clichés and Sylvester Stallone trying to sell his own real-life paintings.

If you want to get much more entertainment and self-help than this film will ever provide, go to a theater playing this and yell "I don't watch Reach Me" until they ask you to leave.

First off, the film has a spectacular cast. If you hate the positivism movement you will probably get a headache from rolling your eyes. However, if you watch this film as a tongue in cheek comedy, you will have as much fun watching it as I did. The fact of a horde of criminals getting influenced by a self help book trend and how it affects all their lives and things beginning intersecting is hilarious. So, sit back, relax and have a good laugh with the cast. The critics need to reach into their back pocket to find themselves (you'll get that later after watching)

The latest addition to the genre known as hyperlink cinema concerns a collection of people connected by their interest in a self-help book. I'd say that the main thing that I took from "Reach Me" is that I now know about the song "Denise". For the most part the movie didn't, well, reach me. I've seen most of the cast members in other movies, most of them better than this ("Rocky", "Idiocracy" and "Machete", to name just a few). Hyperlink cinema, meanwhile, has better movies to its name ("Syriana" and "Fast Food Nation", to name just two).

In the end, "Reach Me" will be of interest if you want to learn about "Denise". Not much else otherwise. I think that I'll try to find "Denise" in its entirety.

Assured, smart, multi-character comedy. Manages to stay consistently intriguing and connected. Great use of music. Meaning of it all may not be immediately obvious but the comedy is clever and the cast, cameos included, are wonderful. In a word, enjoyable.

I thought it was a good movie and story. A lot of positive messages. Great performances. It stayed with me after watching it.

The cast promised so much, and yet the film failed to deliver on so many levels, I gave up half way through because I couldn't take anymore!

I can't understand how such a talented group of actors went along with such poor production!

Only my second review on IMDB.

Yes, Sly is in this, which is why I thought 'watch this, he's a great actor'.

Sly has only a few scenes. He adds great gravitas to a movie that needed a big name, purely because the nature or ethos of the movie most likely would not have been produced.

If you're looking for a 'feel good, snuggle up in front of TV with snacks on a cold day' then this is the one.

Acting 10/10 just check the cast list Feel good factor 10/10

An awesome movie, the plot and a few twists are excellent (plot surprises) I can't recommend enough.

Enjoy!

A REACH

Watered down quasi-Tarantino bout a shy motivational speaker and his followers. Feel-good with a happy ending, this director hopped on the Tarantino gravy train early with "2 Days in the Valley", fresher and grittier, and a more satisfying imitation of the original. Big stars here, in undemanding roles in a polished production, amusing enough if you don't expect much.

Unexceptional.

Review: I stupidly thought that this was going to be a gangster movie! It's all about a best selling book which affects many people's life's. The film shows how the book makes these different individuals face there fears and the way that they concentrate on the positive things in life, even though they are all in difficult situations. From a hip hop artist, an undercover cop, a prison inmate, a couple of hit men, an actor and a journalist, the book really changes there life's for the better and it saves some of the characters life's. Personally, I thought that the storyline wasn't that great and I got a bit annoyed with the constant switching to different characters situations. It seemed like the director crammed to many concepts together at once, which made the film messy and not that well written. I liked Sly's character because you get to see him without a gun or a knife, for once but he's only in a couple of scenes. Anyway, the director really wasted this great cast and the whole book concept was unrealistic and boring after a while. Disappointing!

Round-Up: I'm amazed that Sylvester Stallone, Nelly, Danny Aiello, Tom Berenger, Kelsey Grammar and Terry Crews, agreed to do this movie after reading this awful script because it's not like they need the money. Its not very often that a Stallone movie goes straight to DVD so they must have done it as a favour to the director, who I haven't heard of before. He made Two Days In The Valley, which also had a lot of top names starring in it and 15 Minutes which was one of Robert DeNiro's weakest movies, so his reputation isn't highly rated. Anyway, the adverts and movie posters are really deceptive because it looks like it's going to be a comedy crime caper with some action scenes. I'm not surprised that a lot of the critics slatted the film because it's really hard to find anything slightly interesting about the whole project. On the plus side, the happy ending was sweat and the actors did perform well but it has to go down as a bad day at the office for all of the big names that were involved in this awful film. 

I recommend this movie to people who are into their comedy/drama movies about a group of people who are influenced to make there life's better after reading a book. 2/10

***review may contain spoilers***

first of when i saw the cast i thought OK ? it is not a Action movie it's more crime drama mixed with comedy as well, the story follows that person who is shy and nervous has written a book called Reach Me novel book self help that changed everyone life's it's a most powerful book that everyone has read. well most of time i thought the cast is good i know it's not action movie i can handle that but it is not showing much (Sylvester Stallone)Gerald. Biggest fan of Sly all time my favorite actor of all time Expendables,Rambo,Rocky,Cobra,Tango Cash, wanted to do this movie so small role only in 5 parts of movie in 1 hour ? didn't do much sucks but i know he is not main role it's mostly it's everyone in movie he plays a role of agency who is looking for writer of Reach Me is that he got person who is work with Gerald is Roger (Kevin Connolly)John Q (2002) is looking for Writer what sly payed him and to let him know when he finds the writer of book Reach Me.

.actor i have always liked Punisher (2004),Thursday (1998),Hung (2010) TV Series (Thomas Jane) Wolfe play's a undercover cop he get's to play little action scene in Bank Robbery and (Danny Trejo)Vic is not even part of movie.he was only 10 second then you know what happens next ? in movie there is a little action scene little shooting in movie that he is feeling bad how many he has killing people because he is a cop, he has played most of movie not all of the parts of movie dressed up like cowboy role. Wolfe was driving while that

Colette (Kyra Sedgwick)The Closer (2005) who was released form prison and seeing her daughter from England (Elizabeth Henstridge)Eve Agents of Shields Marvel (2013) that was actor she was feeling bad about something crashed into Wolfe car. have been getting to know each well Wolfe has read book about Reach Me witch he has to stop doing bad things the book is all about bad things that has people done, the book Reach Me book that helped everyone else in world has to stop doing bad things in world that has changed a lot. the writer was (Tom Berenger)Teddy Sniper Franchise,Platoon who did a lot good movies i am into. who was half of movie he was the writer of Reach Me Book that has changed Everyone life's, He is Shy and Nervous Person. not Stallone Movie it's more of everyone in movie almost don't do much (Nelly)Rapper doesn't do much but he's acting was on fire.

but i am pretty Disappointed ! about the director i really got Disappointed because of actors don't do much it's not Because of Sylvester Stallone is not Main Role it's more of Director John Herzfeld 15 Minutes (2001) Robert De Niro and Edward Burns witch that movie sucked a lot people say oh it's a very violent movie i know another better violent movies out there not 15 minutes he is a rubbish director i have seen this is second movie he has made witch is little bit better but it should have done much better movie i don't how to make it better but here's why Sly has conformed this role because John Herzfeld worked with him in Expendables (2010)and helped for him for movie Sly plays Reach Me For Small Role only 5 parts of film

i had idea that if Stallone,Jane Played together in Action Movie but this ? eh i thought it is lame idea for this movie they could be playing scene together but it didn't seemed that he didn't happen. they about to play Bullet to Head (2013) but Tomas Jane got Fired for no Reason because they need Asian guy ? i think if Sly And Jane played Bullet to the Head would have been better. i liked this movie i thought it was good actors and good storyline was good noting wrong with movie it wasn't that bad film unless if your Stallone fan or any of these actors in movie that don't much if i was you rent it before you buy it. i give this movie 6.10

Greetings And Salutations, and welcome to my review of Collection; here's the breakdown of my ratings:

Story: 1.25 Direction: 1.25 Pace: 1.00 Acting: 1.25 Enjoyment: 1.25

TOTAL: 6 out of 10.00

Collection is one of those Slices Of Life drama's that you either like or don't. It takes the stories of a selected group of characters. In this case, the binding ingredient is a self-help book entitled Reach Me. Someone or three in the distinctive parties have been affected by the words of wisdom, and as such, it has or is in the process of changing their lives for the better - we're all happy endings here.

And that is one of the principal flaws with the story, which is the greatest hindrance to the picture. It's nice to have happy endings, but granting everyone the pleasure of a positive outcome is unrealistic. I'm not saying it never happens, but a story should give an even balance to the events and represent life as we know it. At the very least, the cop should be suspended from service for knocking out the teeth of a sexual predator of an actor - though he fully deserved more. And with the number of pistols on display at the finale, someone should have wound up accidentally dead - because accidents happen, as does crap. John Herzfeld does give the audience an engaging cast of individuals. Though, some of these don't achieve believability. The cop, Wolfie, is seven shades of wrong. He believes he should feel guilt at killing so many people - forty-six-and-a-half - however, he doesn't. And even though he goes to confession, there's one scene where he states the dead were bad guys and deserved it. If he genuinely believes both, he should be showing conflict, but once again, he isn't. He's just glib, self-assured, and cocky. However, the priest he harasses is perfectly written and does have a conflict with the cop and the correctness of his killings, to the point of testing his religious conviction. Another unrealistic person is the gangster, Frank. He's too stereotypical, and being so he's been done better a million times before and after, just pick up a Mario Puzo novel. It's these pitfalls and a few other, more trivial ones, like the actual cure of anything - shout out the opposite of what your encumbrance or crutch is while standing looking out over the water - that create an air of idealism, which isn't ideal for this type of movie. The cure is actually a form of self-hypnosis. Tell yourself enough times and with conviction, and you may change your mindset on the matter. It's like a professional liar who, after lying to one person, constantly parrots the lie in their head until it has a ring of truth and can pass a polygraph. But it's definitely nowt new.

Herzfeld also directs his story and, for the most part, does a decent enough job. He utilises a standard point-and-shoot style as this is the best method to allow the story and its myriad of characters leeway to sell themselves. However, he does get a tad imaginative at moments. One of the best is the Bank Robbery. He films this as though it were a western shoot-out at high noon, and due to the cunning twist, it kinda is. It's one of my favourite scenes in the movie. As he does with the cinematography, he also does with the pacing. He keeps an average flow to the storytelling, once again allowing both story and characters to do the entertaining.

Which brings us to the excellent cast. With a roll call of so many A-listers, it would be difficult to make a bad movie. Though the characters may be off or the situations a mite unrealistic, the actors and actresses give their all, and there are no small parts in this picture. The two characters I mentioned above, Copper Wolfie and Gangster Frank, are the two that suffer the worst. However, I can't lay the blame at Thomas James' or Tom Sizemore's feet as the characters are poorly written, and Herzfeld doesn't help with them in the direction either.

That said, I would happily recommend Collection for one viewing, especially on a wet Sunday afternoon. It's a watchable and enjoyable movie, even with its many pitfalls, thanks to the plethora of individuals on offer and the performers portraying them.

Please feel free to visit my Dramatisation Of Life lists to see where I ranked Collection.

Take Care & Stay Well.

For no particular reason I went into this movie thinking it would suck.

Oh I was so wrong :)

This movie really worked for me and I was surprised by its low average rating.

Its quirky, funny and interesting and it managed to avoid being lecturey or preachy.

Stallone is not in it much but what he does contribute works well for the film. Also nice to see Berenger make a good movie once again.

Give it a whirl :)

There were a lot of favours done in this movie. You don't get that main good actors in one movie. I wanted to hate this movie but it was fun to watch. Just don't think and sit back and enjoy yourself and you will have a good time

This movie had so much potential , but it seems like the writer just gave up in the middle! The movie starts well enough has good lines, scenes and acting but pouf and it all falls a part!