The rugged and chubby Steven Seagal is William Lansing, a caring ex- CIA agent who takes care of injured animals and sponsors an orphanage in Europe who also corresponds with one of the orphan's as a pen pal, Irena (Ida Nowakowska.)The orphanage is actually a front for a child sex trafficking ring run by Faisal (Matt Schulze) that kidnaps the teenage girl along with others to sell them to some Middle Eastern types it seems.Seagal springs into action to rescue the girl. Of course as Seagal has put on some girth we get less action here, presumably not many fat stunt doubles around with martial arts expertise and we see Seagal using more brain power to solve riddles. Which presumably is the reason why he has a carpet on his head.The plot is nonsense with lots of plot holes. At least Schulze takes it all seriously as the baddie and brings some style and menace as the villain. As an action film its boring and shows us a Seagal way past his glory days.

I've watched this film many times now and somehow, despite it's many obvious shortcomings, I still very much enjoy it. This is one of those straight to DVD grade movies from Seagal's "Fat Steven" period. By this time he has become a huge whale, waddling from scene to scene, devoid of grace. Also he is unconvincingly overdubbed in many scenes throughout the film, for whatever reason. And yet for me, there is still plenty to enjoy. Firstly the director choreographs what action there is well, so that it is coherent, while still effectively disguising Seagals physical shortcomings, and in general I found the action scenes were shot with a pleasing artistic flourish. Secondly the locations are well chosen, providing the kind of exotic glamour that has been a mainstay of the James Bond franchise for decades. For example the industrial building where the children are taken is completely impractical and irrelevant for that purpose, but it makes for a fantastic B grade "Villain's lair". It's a huge hanger like shed and when the big doors rumble back it is impressive, unfortunately the villains abandon this promising location part way through, before any battle ensues. The wonderful white courtyard of the Politechnika Warszawska Main Building is not a credible residence for a human trafficker either, but to me, an indelibly memorable location. So wonderful in fact, that in my mind it makes up for any shortcomings in the climactic battle between the ponderous Seagal and the villain. The "Stalin building" used for the cocktail party scene and the University Library are further memorable locations to enjoy. Thirdly I also found the casting to be on the money, Matt Schulze is always an effective villain, the kids were appealing and the female police officer struck the right balance in projecting both attractive and competent. Many of the supporting actors didn't speak English well, maybe they don't act well either, but a Polish accent in a film set in Poland adds an authenticity that easily offsets that. The movie follows the Seagal tradition of presenting his character as a disillusioned servant of the military industrial complex, who has become a spiritual seeker, finding peace in communion with animals and nature. And also briefly introduces some facts around human trafficking, which is a real world issue, both are architypal Seagal traits, which I find endearing, provided they don't get out of hand and reach "On Deadly Ground" proportions… The script is not so great, but that is often not the deciding factor in the action movie genre. For me it is enough that the basic premise is sound, the vulnerable find a protector and are actually saved, rather than the hero just exacting empty revenge, as happens too often these days.

I'm checking out these later direct-to-DVD films of Seagal after years of putting it off. Fearing the worst, I'd been a bit nervous about them having read such dire reviews for most of them."Out of Reach" is really not good. Which is a big shame 'cause there's a decent story here lurking about which is given shamefully bad (incompetent?)treatment and the result is a forgettable and overall bad movie.Human trafficking and the scumbags who deal in them is always a potential for powerful stuff. It's one of the most widespread problems the world faces and only the most despicable individuals involve themselves in it. Which is weird as well because it's so widespread. How can so many people be involved (directly or indirectly)?  Well,"Out of Reach" may have had a higher purpose at some point but all is lost in this nonsensical and absurdly ridiculous film. It tells the tale of a former CIA man with a past (Seagal) who's been corresponding with a young girl in an orphanage in Poland. The girl is taken away by some traffickers and once her letters stop coming, Seagal gets suspicious and goes looking for her.Implausibilities abound here as one ridiculous scenario is swiftly followed by another (the way the girl communicates with Seagal in codes is beyond absurd). The actors are bad, Seagal looks disinterested and, quite annoyingly, he's also partially dubbed by an actor who sounds nothing like him.Good points; solid fighting scenes. Seagal always looks solid in the action department and the final sword play scene is well executed,though it looks like it belongs in another film."Out of Reach" could have been an OK film about a very important subject. Sadly it's not.

Steven Seagal stars as a former CSA agent, William Lansing, who discovers an orphan girl he corresponds with, Irena(Ida Nowakowska) has been kidnapped by Poland human traffickers, joining forces with a Warsaw detective, Kasia(Agnieszka Wagner) to find her(and to stop this whole sleazy operation by eliminating all those involved). Matt Schulze is the loathsome creep, Colonel Faisal, behind the whole human trafficking network, with plenty of foreign clientèle willing to pay big bucks for pretty girls yet of age. The CSA must be some sort of shadowy organization who send out assassins to remove specific targets for political reasons. It's a past Lansing wishes to cleanse himself of, yet those who were once his associates, will not allow him to. Robbie Gee is a former partner, Lewis, who seems to have a shaky history with Lansing. Actually, OUT OF REACH is one of Seagal's lesser violent outings, and his character is more humane and tender-hearted than in other action fare where he annihilates a host of scumbags. Sure there's a shootout in a high class brothel, but there aren't a vast number of action set-pieces Seagal flicks are known for. I think the choice of villains, both the human traffickers and the CSA willing to help out these cretins to remove "an old dog who needs to be put out of his misery", are perfect slime for Seagal to euthanize. Still, you would expect, for instance, a major set piece to erupt in the Turkish Embassy Ball, or in that enormous castle where Faisal has laid down roots, but really there are few adrenaline-pumping sequences showing men being blown apart by bullets or hoods getting pummeled by Seagal. I'm frank in that these flicks, which are most often than not generic and predictable, should at least give us what we expect. Anyway, the climax where Lansing and Faisal duel, with swords(Faisal is a fencing geek) as Irena watches, is less than spectacular. Schulze is all growl and no bite. That's been a major problem, I think, in many of Seagal's films, a worthy adversary for his heroes to combat. While Seagal continues the always reliable "silent, man of few words" routine, I thought he had good chemistry with Wagner. Jan Plazalski portrays a kid named Nikki who was in the orphanage at the time the girls were carted off to be potential call girls in training, assisting Lansing with identifying those involved in despicable operation.