Blu-Ray Review: The Outsider

By Brad Henderson

There are plenty of films in comedy and horror that mix in nostalgic or so-called throwback qualities and make us feel like we are watching something from the ’80s. These types of films are scarce when it comes to the action genre and I wish there were more of them because of how fun they are. Of course, we have the Expendables series, which is fun and satisfies a large audience, and there was also last year’s Homefront, which felt like it belonged in the ’80s.

Recently a film called The Outsider was released starring Craig Fairbrass (yes, he is the lead), Jason Patric, Shannon Elizabeth, and James Caan. Patric and Caan are both solid actors but it seems that they tend to portray the same characters in every single film, even though it usually does work. Kind of like how John Cusack is always John Cusack, but we still love him.

Craig Fairbrass is actually really fun to watch and always has been, but people seem to completely overlook him. You might remember Fairbrass in some sci fi/horror films from the ’90s like Darklands, Proteus, and Galaxis. . . no? You don’t remember those? Oh well, I do and they all kick ass. Well, maybe not Galaxis but Fairbrass is good in it anyway. I’m happy that he has a starring action role but it’s sad that the film isn’t the greatest.

The Outsider isn’t bad at all but it does feel like it’s an ’80s throwback film or that it would have worked better if they made it seem more like one. It has a plot right out of that decade and is highly predictable, but at least it is enjoyable.

The question: Is that what the filmmakers were trying to do and didn’t quite achieve to the fullest degree? My guess is that the director (Brian A Miller) is a lover of action films and is heavily influenced by the ones from that era. It just sucks that the guy doesn’t have a lot of money to do what he probably really wanted to do. While $4 million dollars for an action flick isn’t a lot, it is enough to at least keep us entertained. The Outsider isn’t a boring film but nor is it memorable. It is a film that is just there and a decent one to watch at 9 a.m. on a rainy day.

So if you are a lover of cheesy action films I strongly suggest you pick this one up so we can see what Brian A Miller does with a decent budget one day.

The Outsider was released on Blu-Ray on March 11 from Image Entertainment.