Outta Time (2002) / Thriller-Action

MPAA Rated: R for language and violence
Running Time: 94 min.

Cast: Mario Lopez, John Saxon, Tim Sitarz, Tava Smiley, Carlos Mencia
Director: Lorena David
Screenplay: Ned Kerwin, Scott Duncan
Review published March 29, 2002

Adding its name to the list of movies that never needed to be made is Outta Time, a film so unoriginal that you'll spend most of your time calling out what "twist" will happen in the next scene.  Granted, one shouldn't expect greatness from any vehicle starring anyone whose claim to fame was being a regular on "Saved by the Bell", but surely someone in the production must have realized that the Hitchcockian chase film hasn't been successful since The Fugitive.  This might have been too much to hope for, as brain cells were apparently in short supply if what's on-screen is any indication.

The plot revolves around Mario Lopez (Wedding in Las Vegas), playing a soccer star who loses his scholarship after an injury, who takes up a job being a courier for a professor who wants him to take things across the border.  Mario knows it's illegal but doesn't know the contents of the mini-cooler he is given or why someone is out to kill him to get them.  And killing Mario is what they want to do, and soon Mario finds himself wanted for murder by the cops, the Feds, and some unsavory baddies who kidnap his mother and are forcing him to finish out his orders.

Needless to say, this film is one step above abominable, with a ridiculous plot that just gets more unbelievable as the film progresses.  The acting is amateurish, the directing sluggish, and the screenplay could only be worth something if it were used to line the floor to keep your new puppy from making puddles.  Forget North by Northwest, this film isn't even worthy of being mentioned in the same sentence as such crap as Chain Reaction and Run.  They changed the name of the film from The Courier to Outta Time, but after muddling through this trash, Wasta Time would be more appropriate.  Don't waste yours.

Qwipster's rating:

©2002 Vince Leo