OUTCOME Review

Reef Hawk (Keanu Reeves) has been riding the high of being in Hollywood's good graces since the age of six.

Forty years later and he's still on top of the world. He's won two Oscars and has starred in three of the biggest franchises in film history.

But what is most important for Reef is that his fans still love him. Throughout his entire career, he's always been very careful in constructing his public image. Sure, he's had his share of struggles, but he's managed to keep it all out of the spotlight.

So, as his best friends, Xander (Matt Bomer) and Kyle (Cameron Diaz), help him prep for his comeback in the biggest film of his career, it's probably best that nobody finds out he was on said hiatus because he was battling a heroin addiction. To make matters worse, someone allegedly has an incriminating video of Reef that they're threatening to release unless he pays $15 million.

Enter Ira (Jonah Hill), Reef's crisis lawyer. Ira assembles a team to help Reef navigate these waters. Virginia Allen Green (Laverne Cox), Reverend Leondrus Carter (Roy Wood Jr.), and Unis Kim (Atsuko Okatsuka) all gather to make sure that Reef Hawk isn't canceled as a result of the video and whatever his actions may be in it.

In the meantime, Reef sets out on a redemption tour to make amends with anyone and everyone that he's wronged over the years. By casting a wide net, he hopes to inevitably wind up apologizing to whoever has the tape and everything will just go away.

First up on that list, Red Rodriguez (Martin Scorsese), Reef's first manager.

With a list of people he's wronged that's a mile-long and a deadline to meet before the video is released, can Reef Hawk save his reputation and remain Hollywood's golden boy?

Look, I'm a simple man. I see Keanu Reeves in a movie and I watch said movie. So when I saw the trailer for Outcome, I was already all-in.

Yes, this cast is absolutely stacked. Outside of the names I mentioned above, we also see David Spade, Kaia Gerber, Drew Barrymore, and Van Jones. However, you could have cast a bunch of first-timers and they would have been just as effective. That isn't a knock on the acting abilities of anyone I named, not at all.

Rather, it is the writing that is Outcome's biggest downfall. Tonally, it can't decide what it wants to be. Outcome tries to be both a heartfelt drama and a comedy, showing glimpses of both without fully committing to either. This winds up limiting what the all-star cast is able to do with the material that they're given.

The scenes in Ira's office offer up some of the film's best laughs, from the conversation when Reef's whole crisis team is present to noticing the pictures of celebrities that are hanging throughout on the office walls. But outside of that office, the film falls into a trap of sacrificing comedy in pursuit of drama and vice versa. As a result, it winds up feeling very paint-by-numbers and the redemption arc of Reef Hawk never feels fully earned.

Will Outcome be an Apple Original Film that is talked about for years to come? Not at all.

But not everything has to be an awards darling. Sometimes you just want a quick and mindless escape from the world.

And on that front, clocking in at just under 90-minutes, Outcome delivers.

🍿 SCORE = 58 / 100