It’s been a while since Michael Douglas turned in a performance to rival that of his greatest character, Wall Street‘s Gordon Gekko. In the last decade, the once-solid actor has steered clear of sharp, probing movies and invested in more palatable fare such as And So It Goes and Last Vegas. That period of safe moves appears to over – for a brief time, anyway – judging by this first trailer for his next effort, Beyond The Reach.
The film made its debut at the Toronto International Film Festival last year, and since then it seems to have hidden from public view. Until today that is, as Yahoo! Movies has dropped the first preview, which strikes a chord somewhere between thriller and survival horror.
In the lead role, Douglas plays a ruthless businessman who ventures out into the Mojave Desert for an exclusive hunting excursion. All goes as one would expect. Until an accidental misfire kickstarts a feverish game of cat and mouse with his local guide, played by War Horse‘s Jeremy Irvine,
As mentioned above, Douglas’ last big screen turns have seen him reduced to the type of gentile, casually-racist old man who turns out to be ‘really quite nice underneath it all.’ He tackles that type of material with ease – and so he should, this is Gekko! – so it’s a welcome change to see him gnaw through a more dynamic story. You can check the trailer out above, and weigh in with your thoughts in the comments below.
Directed by French filmmaker Jean-Baptiste Léonetti, and written by Stephen Susco, Beyond the Reach will be released in theaters and On Demand April 17th, 2015.
A high-rolling corporate shark (Michael Douglas) and his impoverished young guide (Jeremy Irvine) play the most dangerous game during a hunting trip in the Mojave Desert in this lean, mean cat-and-mouse thriller.
