An author and life coach (Anthony Mackie) with a troubled past must confront his own demons and the potential misapplication of his teachings after being kidnapped by a client (Forest Whitaker) seeking unrealistic solutions to his own problems. Co-writer and director Philippe Caland is best known for his work on the story and as a producer of the 1993 Jennifer Chambers Lynch thriller Boxing Helena, which reduced a woman (Sherilyn Fenn) to an amputee at the mercy of an obsessive surgeon played by Julian Sands. Without a doubt, it should be noted that Caland thinks outside the box and will likely devise a suitably twisted take on redemption here. Opens wide Feb. 28. (R) Not screened in time for review
This article appears in Feb 26 – Mar 4, 2014.