Outrage

After reporting three juveniles for stealing out of cars, Rob Lowe comes under attack in "Outrage," a 2008 TV movie.

One of the boys stole a gun from Casey's car. Since it's illegal to carry a concealed weapon, Casey is charged with a felony and goes to jail for a short time.

The three juvies, led by Eric Michael Cole, decide to ruin the man's life. They trash his car, change the apartment locks, trash his apartment - that's the mild stuff.

Casey then finds himself becoming the villain and not the victim, as the police don't believe the three boys are responsible for what is happening to him. One of the kids' mother (Kathryn Harrold) believes Casey is making false accusations.

With a pregnant wife (Jennifer Grey), Casey is desperate for a way to prove the boys are the ones behind all the chicanery.

Pretty good, and you really feel for Rob Lowe and detest the leader of the teens, played by Eric Michael Cole. Cole gives an excellent performance.

Jennifer Grey doesn't register much, but Lowe has some good scenes showing his - well, outrage.

This is ostensibly the story of a man's fight to defend himself and his family against three punks who have decided to make a target of him. What the story is really about is one of the problems with our legal system -- specifically the manner in which the police and the courts deal with juvenile criminals.

An independent insurance salesman named Tom Casey (Rob Lowe) is targeted by three well-to-do preppies that like to boost car stereos and trash other peoples' property for kicks. Casey observed the kids about to break into a car and reported their activities to the police. The cops arrive just in time to see the three breaking into Casey's car, with the head kid fondling a loaded revolver Casey kept under the front seat.

The cops arrest the trio of Yuppie larva for breaking into Casey's car and we learn that the head slime's mommy is a lawyer. A Rich Lawyer.

Casey, whose car has been completely trashed by the time the cops arrive, is arrested and charged with felony possession of a loaded handgun, for which he draws fifteen days in the lockup thanks to the truly lame defense offered by his brother-in-law.

Meanwhile, Mommy goes to Family Court and gets the charges against her Little Darling reduced to a wrist slap. Money fixes all, the kids walk away laughing and singing `I Love New York,' and get on with the serious business of harassing Casey's pregnant wife.

The remainder of the story unfolds in a fairly predictable manner, with so-so performances from the kids and a very good performance from Lowe.

The moral of this story seems to be, if you want something done right, do it yourself. If you want excuses, call the police.

Though the movie was well made, it left me with an outrage of how the justice sometimes works. I believe that this movie has mainly one purpose, to show that an innocent and concerned citizen can actually become victimized by the judiciary system with its many loopholes that will actually protect the guilty and punish the true victim. It was best demonstrated when the judge sent a man who had a loaded gun in his car and no previous conviction to prison and ignored the true crime of braking into cars to steal radios by someone whose mother was a lawyer. I recommend this movie for everyone to see the outrage of a man who hasn't done anything wrong and suffered from the criminal actions against him. Well, the title is most fitting.

This is worth spending the time to watch. I was entertained.

This is a made-for-TV thriller in which Rob Lowe stars as Tom Casey, who witnesses three teenage punks stealing from cars and reports their crimes to the police. As a result, the teenagers begin to terrorize him and his wife in retaliation.

This movie has its few suspenseful moments at times, making you eager to know what Tom Casey plans to do in dealing with those teenage boys and to stop them from their constant terror. Lowe wasn't bad in portraying Casey, doing the best as he can in this movie that lacks a lot of satisfying moments. You really want to root for him in giving those punks a taste of their own medicine, but, of course, with the lax judicial system, justice isn't swift.

You also really want to hate on the teenagers after all the pain they've cost; the actors who portrayed them did an OK job, with actor Eric Michael Cole's role being the most sinister and evil. Jennifer Grey, who portrays Casey's wife, though, was quite mediocre. She doesn't appear to be very believable in her emotions at times, although she tries. You do end up generating sympathy for her and Rob Lowe's characters.

Overall, it's a movie with some decent thrills, but you'll be left craving for more good guy vs. bad guy action.

Grade C-