Black Out Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Black Out Blu-ray Movie Review

Quentin Tarantino's hangover.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 6, 2014

A lot of people use Holland and The Netherlands interchangeably, often unaware that Holland is but a region of the country. Whatever one chooses to call the nation, there’s a general perception that the culture there has a certain libertine (or perhaps libertarian) aspect, especially with regard to rather lax laws concerning marijuana. Black Out might help to dispel that illusion, at least with regard to the "harder" drug of cocaine, an illicit substance which provides this Quentin Tarantino-esque black comedy with its so-called “McGuffin”, propelling a hapless ex-con named Jos (Raymond Thiry) into an increasingly improbable set of misadventures when initially one, and then two, 20 kilo shipments of coke go missing, presumably under his watch. Black Out was originally produced for Dutch television, which in and of itself may indicate a freewheeling attitude towards things like outright violence, drug use and just a smattering of sexual content, though director and co-writer Arne Toonen does indicate in his commentary included on this Blu-ray that reworking the source material for feature film purposes did allow him to be a bit more explicit. Black Out is an incredibly convoluted tale with a number of outlandish characters doing equally unbelievable things, but it has a rather wry sense of humor which helps it to coast along on a generally breezily affable ambience. Those who dislike fairly gruesome violence and who are easily offended by some frankly politically incorrect epithets (including both the “n” word and the “f” word which just recently landed Jonah Hill in a firestorm of controversy) had best be forewarned before diving into this film. Those who are willing to go with the flow and let Black Out careen through an almost pinball-esque plot where various characters bounce off of each other in unexpected ways will find quite a bit to enjoy.

Jos awakens in a stupor on the day before his impending nuptials to the lovely Caroline (Kim van Kooten), detailing via a quick voiceover that he has long ago forsaken his criminal ways, turning over a new leaf as a straight and narrow businessman. The fact that as he comes out of a perhaps alcohol induced daze the alarm clock seems to be flashing “hell” (courtesy of an upside down camera) might be Jos’ first clue that things aren’t going quite as well as he thinks. When he discovers a rather nastily bloody corpse residing next to him in bed, he knows things are headed to that famous destination in a handbasket. Though he has absolutely no memory of how he got there or who the dead guy next to him is, he obviously does not want to lose everything he’s worked so hard to attain over the past decade or so, and so he folds the corpse up into a suitcase and prepares to dispose of it.

Within a few minutes, Jos is reunited with his drug smuggling cohorts of yesteryear, including the massive Bobbie (Bas Keijzer), a kind of enforcer who is quick with his fists, and Inez (Renée Fokker), a woman so enamored of cocaine she can instantly divine its purity and source simply by touching it. Also within a few minutes, Jos is brought up to speed that there is a 20 kilo supply of cocaine missing that supposedly belonged to local crime lord (and bowling alley entrepreneur) Vlad (Simon Armstrong), a man who just happens to also be a former ballet star with the Bolshoi Ballet. As if these colorful characters aren’t enough to whet the typical Tarantino fan’s appetite, there are also two hitwomen named Charity (Katja Schuurman) and Petra (Birgit Schuurman) who work for another local crime lord named Gramps and who tool around in a car discussing Tarantino heroines like Uma Thurman.

Even this brief overview doesn’t completely account for the film’s sometimes bewildering array of interwoven characters and stories. There are also two would be robbers (who work as dog groomers), a kind of vicious up and coming drug boss who beats one of his henchmen nearly to death and then calmly answers a phone call from his mother letting her know he’ll be right home for lunch, and Caroline’s attorney father who just happens to work for one of the crime bosses. With a crowded field like this (and we won’t get into the police characters), it’s hard to really keep track of the ins and outs of the missing cocaine, but despite a certain laissez faire attitude (one character overtly states “This isn’t the kind of film where everything gets explained at the end”), Black Out is often surprisingly charming, at least for those who don’t mind seeing various characters get shot and/or pummeled with great regularity.

While both the tone and subject matter of Black Out might feel overly derivative, Toonen keeps things moving at such a breathless pace that few will probably end up caring all that much. The last third or so of the film devolves into outright carnage, with a body count of Hamlet-esque proportions. Even some of those who manage to survive come through the gauntlet considerably worse for the wear, but Toonen’s approach seems to suggest that despite the trail of blood and guts (and cocaine), it’s all in good fun.

Black Out Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Black Out is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Döppelgänger Releasing and Music Box Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. Digitally shot with the Red One, the film benefits from good use of locations, with a generally very nicely sharp and well detailed image that only has a few minor trouble spots along the way. Some of the interior footage is dimly lit and looks relatively soft and ill defined, at least when compared to the crisp bright outdoor footage. Several scenes in locations like nightclubs are lit extravagantly in odd tones, something which further diminishes fine detail. Fine detail is quite excellent in close-ups, though, to the point that some scenes like an up close and personal view of the corpse Jos wakes up next to may cause a bit of squeamishness. Just a hint of video noise appends a couple of the darkest scenes, but otherwise this is a nice looking presentation with good contrast and an accurate looking palette.

Black Out Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Black Out's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix (mostly in Dutch, though with a smattering of English here and there) is a lot of fun, with forceful LFE and a glut of great immersion in what is essentially a nonstop array of sometimes bizarre set pieces. Several moments of gunfire and a couple of zooming cars provide nice little bursts of sonic energy, and dialogue is always presented cleanly and clearly. Some of the over amped music can be a little annoying at times, but it, too, spills through the surrounds quite convincingly. Fidelity is top notch and dynamic range is extremely wide in this problem free track.

Black Out Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Director's Audio Commentary was recorded in English specifically for this release and finds Arne Toonen discussing things like the television roots of this piece and anecdotal information about various aspects of the shoot. Toonen speaks perfect, unaccented English, for those who might be worried about the comprehensibility factor.


• Black Out Blooper Reel (1080p; 7:46)


• Unusual Suspects Gallery (1080p) features some pretty arty photographs by Rahi Rezvani.


• Oh Deer, A Short Film by Arne Toonen (1080p; 12:45)


• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 2:11)

Black Out Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Black Out is a breathless ride through completely improbable plot points and a series of ineluctably colorful characters. It's also graphically violent and almost intentionally offensive at times. If you can handle those two latter aspects and don't mind a certain faux Tarantino feeling that runs rampant throughout the film, there's actually quite a bit to enjoy here, including a wry and deeply black sense of humor. Performances are nicely detailed within the cartoonish limits of the film, and Toonen acquits himself quite well in a couple of neat little set pieces. The technical merits of the Blu- ray are generally very good to excellent and the supplements, while not bounteous, are also enjoyable. Recommended.