Review of Blow Out (1981) by Brett C — 19 Nov 2014

Review In A Nutshell:

The Conversation is one of my favourite films of all time, even surpassing the other greats from Francis Ford Coppola's work; The Godfather and its sequel. Alfred Hitchcock is a director who has been known as a master of suspense, influencing hundreds of filmmakers that came to see his work; and though I have seen very little of Brian De Palma's work, it has been said frequently that his films are more influenced by Hitchcock than any other filmmaker. What he has brought here in Blow Out is a mash up of both the fundamentals of The Conversation and mixing it with Hitchcock's suspenseful storyline and atmosphere; immediately I was hooked.

Blow Out's plot revolves around a car accident that was overheard by a sound recordist, but he suspects that it was murder. From there, he finds himself digging in deeper to the causality of the event and eventually reaches to a point of obsession. In its superficial nature, it looks and feels like any other thriller that is released during that time, but De Palma gives the film a sense of intelligence, by giving it a political subtext, similar to the one that was found in The Conversation. What makes Blow Out different from Coppola's film is that it spends more of its time with the story, in building its characters and gives the film a clear and identifiable villain; The Conversation was concerned more about the bigger ideas and it simply adds a layer of suspense and mystery in order to support that. Suspense is something Blow Out rarely lacks, following a protagonist's journey into a conspiracy that is not easy to shake out of once a person goes in deep enough. De Palma gives his protagonist a deep enough back story to make him feel real, and to support the logic behind his decisions. I was also on board with the romantic relationship between Jack and Sally, as De Palma does not let it take over the film's tone and uses it intelligently within the film's primary story.

John Travolta's performance was great. It does not show the intense facial expressions and hot-tempered attitude that I usually see him in; just watch John McTiernan's Basic, he was quite annoying there. Here his emotions feel natural, and when he does show a bit of colour in his personality that is only because he was actually taunted either by his obsession or by the people around him; it is a mixture of internal and external pressures, causing him high amounts of trauma that would resonate with him until the day he dies. Nancy Allen as Sally was great for what she was; she brings a sense of naivety and adorableness, and does so without coming off as infuriating. It was a surprise to see her like this as the previous role I have seen her in was Robocop, and there she was a tough individual who rarely let's others influence or take advantage of her. John Lithgow was also another person that surprised me as his role here is much darker than the ones that I am used to seeing. He did a quite a good job in the film, creating that sense of menace that many antagonists in cinema have failed to achieve.

Blow Out is a strong 80s thriller, that intelligently blends his personal inspirations and deliver something memorable and entertaining. I hope the rest of De Palma's films are just as remarkable as this film.