Out of Bounds

Directed by Richard Tuggle, Out of Bounds follows Anthony Michael Hall’s Daryl Cage as he’s forced to go on the run after he runs afoul of a local drug dealer named Roy Gaddis (Jeff Kober). There’s little doubt, ultimately, that Out of Bounds fares best in its fast-paced and sporadically exciting opening stretch, as filmmaker Tuggle, working from Tony Kayden, delivers a familiar yet entertaining endeavor that benefits from a recurring emphasis on real-life Los Angeles locations – with the affable atmosphere heightened by a top-notch soundtrack and Kober’s appreciatively broad work as the vicious villain. (Hall, on the other hand, turns in a flat and completely charmless performance that remains a total distraction from start to finish.) It’s disappointing to note, then, that the picture runs out of steam to a progressively demonstrable extent in its second half, with the proliferation of dimly-lit action sequences paving the way for a somewhat anticlimactic final confrontation that’s hardly as electrifying as Tuggle has surely intended – which does, in the end, cement Out of Bounds‘ place as a disappointingly hit-and-miss thriller that could’ve benefited from a shorter running time (and an entirely different star).

**1/2 out of ****