Blackout

This type of movie is why Netflix is in trouble. They fund this garbage, throwing money at a terrible script and awakening Nick Nolte from his annual hibernation. Poor old Nick is slurring and carrying on, completely unconvincing in a Mickey Rourke style cameo of ludicrous casting. Omar puts in a solid bad guy act but his pony tail wig distracts. Abbey looks mildly embarrassed and Josh Duhamel looks like his misses the big budget Transformers days when the catering cost more than the budget for this entire film. Some laugh out loud bad moments, so bad I was looking for Damien Chapa's name as the director.

This movie has B/A list actors yet the script and some scenes are awful. Completely cliché and disjointed at the same time. Budget is not an excuse. There are action movies that have way lower budget and were at least interesting if not gripping: Hardcore Henry, Upgrade, The Raid (only 1million), etc. I've even seen better stuff from Youtube creators. Josh Duhamel should just stick to romantic comedies and light hearted stuff like the Mighty Ducks. He hardly felt dangerous or menacing in action roles. Abbie Cornish's acting was also was disinterested and looked like she was just in for the paycheck.

I agree with an earlier reviewer: I'm not sure I'll make it through to the end. 20 minutes in and I already have a strong suspicion that this might be the worst movie I've ever watched.

This movie is absolutely terrible in every way. Plot, conversation, acting... Everything. I'll give you an example:

In one scene the main character is having a flashback. He's in a (terrible as usual) conversation with the bad guy, Eddie. Eddie is holding a glas of tequila in his left hand and his hair is up in a ponytail. Cut to another angle and all of a sudden his hair is down and the glas is gone. Cut back again and the ponytail and glas is back. Cut again. No ponytail and he takes a mouthful of tequila from the bottle. What the...? It's amazing to watch all the inconsistencies in this production. They are everywhere and they are hilarious.

I won't give anything away, but the end leaves me with a feeling that the producers of this mess will hit us with a sequel. I'm looking forward to it, but at the same time I don't think they will be able to raise enough money for it. I would love to see it. I haven't been this entertained in a while.

Was there a script or did they make the plot up as they went along? Was the budget over or under 5 bucks? Was this flick made by 4th graders? Did they make it this lousy just to win some kind of award? The questions are piling up minute by minute.

BTW: Did you know that the point of a satelite phone is that it's easily traceable? I just learned this.

I urge you to watch this movie. Watch it as a comedy/parody, not as an action flick. It should be used at every film school as an example on what NOT to do.

A note to some reviewers: You know that the average of 1-10 stars is 5 stars. Right? How can you give a movie you dislike as much as you say a 5 star review? Your words doesn't match your rating.

For a paycheck, to fill a content void, just cuz?

I thought this movie was a joke at first, like tongue-in-cheek comedy or perhaps a twist where he's still in a coma because the shootout scenes are so outlandish that they cant possibly be taken seriously. But.... alas.... its for real.

I cannot think of a single redeeming thing to say. Except maybe credit for the single location? I guess? But its painfully apparent that nobody cared. The writer? Didn't care. The actors? Didnt care. The director? Didn't care. The Editor? Didn't care. Nobody wanted this to be made, but it was because Netflix has a content quota and we're all to blame.

Let's put our cards on the table. The Bourne story (killer with memory loss) is one of my all-time faves. I actually read the "hardcover" when it first came out (if you are not familiar with that term, Google it!). The movie trilogy is top-ranked on my list of the greatest films of all time (see below). So, off the top, I really really WANTED to love this film. But, alas, Fate had other plans. As I have explained in my other reviews, one of the hallmarks of a low-budget indie is the gratuitous use of loud music to "fill in the awkward pauses" between the weak writing and bad acting. BLACKOUT has plenty of gratuitous loud music. Another giveaway is the use of recycled actors. Plenty of those here also. But what about the ACTION scenes, you ask? The good news is there are plenty of those too. And it looks like that is where most of the budget ended up. In fact, at the 35 minute mark, protagonist Duhamel escapes a killer using the signature judo move from the grand finale of REDBELT 2008 (also on my list of the best all-time films). "A" for effort. "B-" for result. ((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))