Blackout

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.

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.

Should've been named The Ghost of Nick Nolte. My husband and I thought this was 80's satire. This was the WISH version of a Lifetime movie, but aired during those god awful Christmas in July things.🎄

Some of the fight scenes were ok except when, after hand to hand combat, nobody's hair was even out of place. The shooting scenes though, lol What a joke. All of the shots that were fired and miraculously missed Josh and then he fires twice and kills them. The inconsistencies throughout this whole movie are comical.

How many kitchen trays were harmed in this film? That's what I really wanna know.

This is a skip for anyone over the age of 14. It uses the Jason Bourne lost memory and could possibly be a spy, criminal or soccer dad...who knows and people are trying to kill him. The director chose to go with shaky cam for ALL the action scenes. I do not mind shaky cam to promote tension or give the feel of what it is like to be fighting someone...but this shaky cam was used to disguised everythingincluding not haviing a good story. So many illogical scenes like people firing automatic weapons from point blank range(multiple times) and not even grazing the target. Double-digit ex machina scenes. A female character in a very intense action movie where she is killing people in hand to hand and gun and yet makeup and hair does not even have a smear. And do not get me started on Nick Nolte who looked and sounded worse than Weekend at Bernies (after he died). This is just sadness.

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))