huh_oh_i_c
Ex-gangster Jos wakes up one day before his wedding with gun in his hand and corpse in his bed. This is not a good way to start the day. He's then accused of having stolen 10 K's of drugs from a gangster. Meanwhile his fiancé is calling him to pick up the rings......This is, by Dutch (or any) standards for sure, a superb film. Sure, it's not very original, but what movie is these days? Every "30 best movies list of 2017" contains 28 sequels or comic book adaptations.It is fast paced, with excellent timing, well placed flash backs, but you can't doze off. Which isn't a problem at 84 minutes or so. As far as craftsmanship goes, this is one of the best Dutch or European movies in a long time. Not even Tarantino or Guy Ritchie do it better. Sure, they're a tat more original, but they steal too. Tarantino steals from unknown Asian gangster movies, so that's why he SEEMS original.Well acted, through out the movie, I would have liked a bigger role for the sister hit-girls, but yah. Even with subtitles, it wasn't annoying.Melancholic Alcoholic.
carbuff
Black-hearted sort of thriller without any really likable characters but a lot of twists, although many of them would be too contrived and coincidental to be believable in real life. Also, the "quirkiness" of many of the characters was over the top, even for a movie of this kind. I'm still rating it highly, because in spite of its flaws, it is short and rapid-fire, so it held my attention completely throughout, and I like movies that are a bit weird. I would have probably rated it a little higher, but, as I alluded to in the beginning of my review, even the lead character is only partially sympathetic, and, right now, the whole gritty anti-hero thing is starting to wear on me. (I love cars. Super clean classic notchback Mustang costars in this movie, which almost tempts me to up its rating on this basis alone.)
SnoopyStyle
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.
chrichtonsworld
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.