Review of Blow Out (1981) by Jon C — 06 Aug 2016

Extremely interesting thriller.

One of the best political thrillers and one of Brian de Palma's best films, Blow Out features John Travolta in top notch performance as a sound engineer for an independent film making company in Philadelphia which specializes in cheesy soft-porn/slasher films: while out recording night sounds on a creekside for his audio library he sees a car plunge into the water and dives in to save the female passenger but too late to save the male driver, who turns out to be a leading candidate for the US presidency. Later, he realizes from the sounds he recorded that the blow out which caused the accident was caused by a gunshot, something which understandably the powers that be don't want known. Nancy Allen's deliberately flighty performance as the rescued woman provides a perfect foil to Travolta's solidness, and the convoluted plot unfolds through both obvious and subtle allusions to historical events (Chappaquiddick, Dallas) and classic cinema (the title's resemblance to Blow Up is not accidental, and the scenes of mayhem in public venues like a large train station or a patriotic fireworks display where the crowds have no idea what's happening are very Hitchcockian.) Rated R for elements which don't seem all that shocking today. An extremely interesting film. The Criterion special edition DVD is as good as you would expect.