Man Outside

Award winning documentarian Mark Stouffer's feature debut is a beautifully photographed, solidly told tale of a broken man who escapes into the woods to heal, only to be forced out of his solace by a sheriff who believes he is responsible for a missing child. Stouffer's portrayal of life in the wilderness and his obvious fondness and knowledge of it, is inspiring. Robert Logan and Kathleen Quinlan turn out fine performances as the high-powered lawyer turned hermit turned suspect, and the professor of anthropology who helps him find the truth.

A pretty standard thriller, what sets Man Outside apart is the appearance of every member of The Band, except Robbie Robertson. I'm not sure how this came about, but they mostly all give fine performances (Rick Danko going perhaps a little to far over the top as the father of a kidnapped boy).

This film was thoughtful, uplifting, suspenseful, heartfelt, a good drama, a good thriller and a good love story. But what really struck me was how the message is so on target with the things going on in the news today! The child abuse and molestation, adultery and other aspects shown in good taste within this film are regular reading in the newspapers of today. All of these complex topics are handled with skill in this film and add up to entertainment that draws you into the story and make you care about the characters.

I really enjoyed it and the performances from Brad Dillman and Kathleen Quinlan were excellent and Robert Logan makes his part most believable. Highly recommended!

'Man Outside' (aka 'Hidden Fear') is quite the odd duck, mixing drama with a bit of romance before ultimately venturing into thriller territory. It tells the story of a man (who used to be a lawyer) living like a hermit in the woods (following the unexpected death of his wife). A female anthropologist takes an interest in the man, and the feelings seem mutual. Around the same time, kids are being abducted by a nerdy pervert with some serious mommy-issues. The local sheriff suspects our friendly hermit being the culprit, so him and his new-found love-interest must now flee from the authorities while at the same time trying to catch up with our nerdy villain. Somehow this all turns into a pretty okay movie. The opening sequence with the car is quite unique and a fine way to start the movie (since you don't really have an idea what's going on yet). All things considered, it's a little tame for its own good, but worth a watch nonetheless.

This is a terrible, pointless movie, that no doubt will mostly be checked out by fans of "The Band" the great rock group. It looks to me like Levon Helm, cast in a stereotypical role of a redneck sheriff, got his buddies(sans Robbie Robertson, who had long since stopped performing with the combo) involved.

This leads to one hilarious mishap, Garth Hudson not only isn't much of an actor, but he plays one of the few Vietnam Vet with a thick Canadian accent! Now there's a guy who believed in the war. Richard Manuel, who would tragicly kill himself not long after this, gets off the easiest with a very small role.

Bradford Dillman, a fine actor, has a really degrading role and has to wear an Elmer Fudd hat. Nice to see that things have gone well lately for Kathleen Quinlian, who really suffers for her art here.