Black Out

this is a relatively good movie, since it was made in Holland, with a limited selection of actors to choose from, a small budget and a few days of shooting. The movie contains a satisfying amount of jokes, action, babes, fairly original characters and thrillers. Too bad some of the scenes are almost exactly the same as Hollywood movies: the 'godfather' of the crime gang is in a wheelchair and uses oxygen. This reeks of Things to do in Denver when you're dead. Also, the scene in which the babes are chatting in their car, just before doing a job on Willy, is similar to the conversations John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson have in Pulp Fiction.

Black Out is a Dutch crime comedy a la Tarantino and Guy Ritchie.Which is one of the strongest points in the movie and at the same time could be seen as weak ones since some scenes are direct copies.In stead of heavily criticising or bashing like most Dutch viewers did I actually applaud this effort.Sure this is no masterpiece.But it is a huge step in the right direction.Copy or not,this movie will be appealing to a larger audience outside The Netherlands and in my eyes that is a good thing.The director Arne Toonen of this movie shows he has talent and skill.It's obvious he still has a lot to improve on craft wise but I have no doubt he will manage to do so.Using older experienced actors opposite a younger cast is almost brilliant.Too bad he did not make more use of them.Some characters were screaming for more screen attention.I am not entirely sure about Simon Armstrong as Vlad.He was interesting as the main villain.But somehow a little over the top compared to the others in this film.It would have worked better if more characters and scenes would have been outrageous and absurd as well.The film was begging for it.Yet it remained subtle and calm in places where excess was needed.Overall though I found this to be a very enjoyable experience and honestly think that Black Out (2012) deserves a little more recognition.

Jos Vreeswijk (Raymond Thiry) is a former criminal who wakes up with a gun and a dead man next to him. It's the morning before his wedding to innocent Caroline and his black out leaves him with spotty memory. He is accused of stealing 20 kilos of coke by gay gangster Vlad Omskorski. He has to recover the drugs before it puts Caroline in danger. He reconnects with former running mates; muscle-head Bobbie and coke genius Coca Inez.

This is yet another Guy Ritchie wannabe gangster crime movie. It has some of the style, quite a bit of the energy, but it lacks a charismatic lead. He's more of a stiff henchman type. The story is convoluted which is the norm for this type of movie. It just doesn't have the originality. It's all very familiar and not in a good way.

This kind of works like a Hangover style thriller and it does so very well. I'm pretty sure an American remake is on its way or is at least in the development stage at this very moment. This is really good and you shouldn't let the fact this is a Dutch production put you off. Or the fact you might need to read subtitles. It's totally worth it, because it has all the ingredients a thriller needs.

There is action, comedy and secrets. The comedy might not be everyones taste, but I really loved how politically incorrect the movie is. If you have a problem with those jokes you might not enjoy the movie as much as I did. Still you can't fault the movie for it's near perfect execution (no pun intended).

"Black Out" is essentially a Dutch remake of every Guy Ritchie movie ever (except "Swept Away", thank God), take it or leave it. There's nothing new you'll see in this movie, but it's a pretty darn fantastic rendition of crime movie clichés. The female assassins are vintage Tarantino, the dying crime boss is a lot like Christopher Walken in "Things To Do In Denver", the wannabe-villains having a really stupid hobby (in this case dog trimming) is a joke that I must have seen in a billion different crime comedies, but somehow it all just gels perfectly. In a worse framework the oh-so-clever little dialogues would annoy the hell out of me, but everything I'd usually hate just sorta works in this movie, somehow. By the end a lot of people have died, a lot of friends have become enemies and vice versa, a lot of weird one-liners have been uttered, what more can you really want from stuff like this? You've seen this movie before, but you'll have a great time seeing it again.