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The
most important thing
to know about
The
Stranger
is that you should
be a stranger to it.
"Stone Cold" Steve
Austin stars in the
Anchor Bay
Entertainment
release and he's
really the only
reason a person
should watch it. If
you like the WWE,
it's "Stone Cold"
Steve Austin in a
movie... there ya
go. Other than that,
there's not much to
like with
The
Stranger.
The core idea isn't
a bad one. Agent Tom
Thesanski went
through such a
traumatic experience
that his mind has
blocked it out and
forces him to jump
from different
versions of his
'false realities.'
The FBI is after him
for a variety of
reasons and his
Doctor, Dr. Grace
Bishop (Erica Cerra)
is after him to
protect him from
himself and the FBI
because she's
developed an
interest in such a
traumatic case. She
eventually finds Tom
and helps him sort
things out while on
the run from the
FBI, but they
eventually find more
than they bargained
for while jogging
Tom's memory.
The core idea might
not have been the
problem with the
movie, the script
isn't terrible
either. Dialogue is
decent and even the
suspense is good.
It's not a bad idea
for a movie, it's
just that director
Robert Lieberman did
such an awful job
with this movie that
it never had a
chance. He put
things in the movie
that didn't need to
be- one was a
motorcycle stunt...
it doesn't make
sense for it to be
in there, but he
found a way to throw
it in there. It's
not throwing in
stunts to throw in
stunts, it's that he
never found a better
way to tie them in.
That and the
cinematography was
so bad that you
think it was thrown
together by a couple
of kids in an AV
room. Really just an
awful job by Robert
Lieberman with this
movie in. It's hard
to just openly bash
someone like that,
but you can't say
that he did a decent
job at anything. He
probably didn't have
much of a budget,
but then again if he
didn't have much of
a budget it made
sense.
The
Stranger
has major problems.
One is obviously
Lieberman's
direction; the other
is that Steve Austin
is made up like the
Geico caveman in the
begining. Another one
is that one of the
three main
characters is best
known for his role
as Kicking Wing in
Joe Dirt.
There's just too
much in the way of
The
Stranger
becoming a good
movie. Even the lone
extra on the Blu-Ray,
a behind the scenes
look at making the
movie is bad. The
only reason to watch
is where Robert
Lieberman is being
interviewed on why
he was chosen to
make the movie. It's
probably the best
moment on the entire
Blu-Ray.
The
Stranger
should be avoided by
all, if you're
unlucky enough to
see it you'll know
why.
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