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Outrage

1998, Movie, R, 90 mins

Outrage: Review

A mildly suspenseful action drama whose potentially compelling plot ultimately fails to deliver anything special. Perennial loser Tom Casey (Rob Lowe) just can't seem to catch a break. He hates his job as an insurance salesman, his wife's family thinks he's a dud, and his car had just been broken into. One night, he confronts three prep-school punks acting suspiciously around another car, telling them to beat it before he calls the cops. The next morning, Tom's car has been trashed again. But Tom's luck seems to be changing: The police caught the teenage culprits he encountered the previous night redhanded, and arrested them. Unfortunately, while arresting the kids the police found Tom's loaded handgun inside his car — a felony that lands him two weeks in prison. On top of that, the mother of head preppie punk Jeffrey (Eric Michael Cole) is a powerful attorney and gets the boys off with community service. By the time Tom gets out of prison, he's a man about to snap. With the kids vowing revenge against him for calling the police and Tom ready to do a little damage himself, the movie devolves into a predictable cat-and-mouse game in which each side tries to outdo the other with threats of violence. The kids make prank calls to Tom's pregnant wife (Jennifer Grey), eventually escalating to more dangerous activities. Tom, meanwhile, make idle threats against the kids and Jeffrey's mother that never materialize into anything. The kids are presented as one-dimensional villains and the lack of character development eliminates any sympathy or connection the audience is supposed to feel for Tom. Unlike the seminal TAXI DRIVER (1976) or even FALLING DOWN (1993), in which the leads turn into vigilantes against society's ills, Tom Casey never really loses it — a development that might have salvaged the movie's cliched and unsatisfying finish. leave a comment --Andria Lam