Review of Blow Out (1981) by Alison O — 02 Jan 2004
VIDEO.
A notorious magpie of filmic styles, this is Brian De Palma's take on Blow-up and The Conversation made during John Travolta's wilderness years. An underrated gem, it also features Holly Hunter in an uncredited role as a murdered prostitute. De Palma's wife of the time, Nancy Allen (who went on to take the female lead in Robocop) is the ditsy love interest as the femme fatale paid to set up a presidential candidate in a sting operation to discredit him. Jack (Travolta), who is out recording sound effects for his job as a horror B-movie sound man happens to record the moments when the car leaves the road and crashes into a river. He dives in and rescues the stricken Sally but the politician is already dead. From then on it seems the powers that be are bent on cutting off the loose ends rather than tying them up. John Lithgow is menacing as the CIA troubleshooter and the daft conclusion is forgivable given the overall sheen of the film.
This review of Blow Out (1981) was written by Alison O on 02 Jan 2004.
Blow Out has generally received very positive reviews.
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