Reach Me

Reach Me is a 2014 American drama film directed and written by John Herzfeld.[2] The film stars Sylvester Stallone, Kyra Sedgwick, Terry Crews, Thomas Jane, Kevin Connolly, Lauren Cohan, Kelsey Grammer, and Tom Berenger.[3] The film was produced by Rebekah Chaney, Cassian Elwes, Buddy Patrick, John Herzfeld.[4]

Reach Me
Promotional poster
Directed byJohn Herzfeld
Produced by
Written byJohn Herzfeld
Starring
Production
company
Seraphim Films Productions
Distributed byMillennium Entertainment
Release date
  • November 21, 2014 (2014-11-21)
Running time
95 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
BudgetUS$5,000,000[1]

The plot revolves around how a self-help book inspires a diverse group of people: a journalist and his editor, a former inmate, a hip-hop mogul, an actor and an undercover cop. The creation of Reach Me was influenced as least partly by Herzfeld's memories of seeing televangelist Reverend Ike and reading Napoleon Hill's self-help book, Think and Grow Rich, although Herzfeld says the film is "not about getting rich, but believing in yourself."[5]

Cast

Production

To build a solid cast for the movie, Herzfeld started with Stallone; the two had been friends since they were roommates together as students at University of Miami.[1] After Stallone committed to participate, other actors agreed to join the cast at minimum pay rates.[1] Herzfeld recruited another long-time friend, Danny Aiello, to play the role of a mobster[6](p302) – but after Aiello declined that role, Herzfeld and Aiello collaborated on creating the character of Father Paul.[6](p303) Aiello credits his work on Reach Me with aiding his emotional recovery from the death of his son, Danny Aiello III.[6](p303)

While inviting friends' participation in Reach Me, Herzfeld also enlisted close relatives of participants: Herzfeld's wife, Rebekah Chaney,[7] joined as co-producer and cast member. Stallone's youngest daughter, Scarlet, had her acting debut in Reach Me, although she described the experience as "pretty humiliating" because she "just had to say one tiny line, and they had to cut that in half."[8]

During principal photography in 2013, funding for the film dried up when one of the investors, Norman Zada, backed out and sued for return of US$1,000,000.[9][10] Herzfeld, Stallone and producers Rebekah Chaney and Cassian Elwes started a Kickstarter campaign to raise their goal of US$250,000 by September 19.[11][12] Despite reaching the US$250,000 goal on Kickstarter, the production team decided to withdraw its Kickstarter campaign and start again with the competing crowdfunding platform Indiegogo, citing its broader and more flexible capabilities.[13] The Indiegogo campaign set a goal for US$50,000 starting on September 17 and ended on September 22 with a total of US$178,640.[14] Total production costs for the film are estimated at US$5,000,000.[1]

Marketing

The first official trailer for John Herzfeld's Reach Me was released on July 7, 2014,[15] and the second official trailer was released on September 25, 2014.[16]

Reception

As of June 2016, the film holds a 4% rating on Rotten Tomatoes out of 23 critics.[17] with the consensus "Featuring a bewildering array of talented actors pummeled by disjointed direction and a dull, hackneyed script, Reach Me is so fundamentally misbegotten that its title reads more like a threat." At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 21% based on 14 reviews.[18]

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See also

References
  1. Steinberg, Don (November 21, 2014). "How Sylvester Stallone Helped Indie Film 'Reach Me' Get Made". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved June 29, 2016.(subscription required)
  2. Cooper, Tracie. "Reach me". AllMovie. Retrieved February 3, 2015.
  3. "Sylvester Stallone joins indie drama 'Reach Me'". Digital Spy. November 14, 2012. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
  4. Stedman, Alex (July 6, 2014). "Watch: Sylvester Stallone, Nelly, Kyra Sedgwick in First 'Reach Me' Trailer". Variety. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
  5. Brooks, Brian (November 20, 2014). "'Reach Me,' A Dozen More Reach Out To Specialty Film Audiences This Weekend". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
  6. Aiello, Danny (July 21, 2015). I Only Know Who I Am When I Am Somebody Else: My Life on the Street, On the Stage, and in the Movies. Gallery Books. ISBN 1-476-75191-9.
  7. "Rebekah's Gallery". RebekahChaney.com. Archived from the original on March 8, 2016. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
  8. Spencer, Amy (April 19, 2017). "Sly's Angels: The Stallone Sisters Enter the Spotlight". Harper's Bazaar. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
  9. Norman Zada v. Rebecca Chaney et al., Case No. BC508099 (Los Angeles Superior Court May 7, 2013). Text
  10. "Movie Money". Courthouse News Service. May 8, 2013. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
  11. Bryan Bishop (August 21, 2013). "Sylvester Stallone and director John Herzfeld turn to Kickstarter to finish 'Reach Me'". The Verge. Retrieved October 18, 2013.
  12. John Herzfeld (August 20, 2013). "REACH ME THE MOVIE@KICKSTARTER". Kickstarter. Retrieved August 24, 2013.
  13. Jeff Sneider (September 18, 2013). "Sylvester Stallone Movie 'Reach Me' Boots Kickstarter for Indiegogo (Exclusive)". The Wrap. Retrieved October 18, 2013.
  14. John Herzfeld (September 17, 2013). "REACH ME THE MOVIE AT INDIEGOGO". Indiegogo. Retrieved October 18, 2013.
  15. Anderton, Ethan (July 7, 2014). "Sylvester Stallone Stars in 'Crash' Style Drama 'Reach Me' Trailer". firstshowing.net. Retrieved July 7, 2014.
  16. Movieclips Trailers (September 25, 2014). "Reach Me Official Trailer #2 (2014) - Sylvester Stallone, Nelly Movie HD". YouTube. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
  17. "Reach Me - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
  18. "Reach Me". Metacritic. Retrieved June 5, 2016.
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