The Blackout

USA 2013
produced by
Keith Brown, Autumn Federici, Matt Hish, Scott Rosa for Glossy Pictures, La Dolce Vita, Cannonball Productions
directed by Matt Hish
starring Scott Rosa, Michael Graziadei, Flood Reed, John Joyce, Autumn Federici, Matt Hish, David Barry Gray, Shanelle Workman, Shane Lynch, Jerrell Lee, Tom Gatto, Jared Bonner, Kenneth-Michael Glass, Casey O'Keefe, Apphia Castillo, Pati Lauren, Julia Boyd, Nataly Joe, Antoinette Mia Pettis, Brian Allen, Danielle Reverman, Santiago Bendiksen, Sam Martins, Ward Edmondson, Mike Nardelli, Angela Moratz, James Romero, Scott Neithercut, Evan Aldrich, Robbíe Kaller, Whitney Destiny
story by Keith Brown, Scott Rosa, screenplay by Keith Brown, music by Darren Morze

review by
Mike Haberfelner

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All rhythm guitarist/songwriter Eddie (Scott Rosa) had in mind for the evening was a quiet dinner for his bandmates - Chas (Michael Graziadei), Toss (Flood Reed) and Gunther (John Joyce) - and their absolutely closest friends, but before you know it, things get a little out of hands, a little more ... and all of a sudden they party like rockstars (which they are actually), with plenty of sex, drugs and rock'n'roll - and then Eddie wakes up with a dead deer in his bed and the distinct feeling his girlfriend Jenny (Autumn Federici), whom he loves very much, has ditched him last night. Now he tries to figure out what has been going on, how he could fix his relationship, and where (and with whom) Jenny even is ... but at first draws a total blank. And the best way his bandmates figure to make him (and themselves) remember again is to get totally drunk and high - which helps even, even if what he remembers isn't always what he would like to, like Jenny flirting (and maybe getting intimate) with their record company's sleazy A&R Spencer (Matt Hish) - but what the band finds in the swimming pool suddenly dwarves all of Eddie's problems: The dead body of a man who might be their record label's boss Reuben (David Barry Gray).

Now no matter who the dead body really is, our heroes figure they're fucked, as they really cannot remember how the body got their - and died in the first place - and slowly but surely the alcohol to help jog their memory runs low. And then two cops (Tom Gatto, Jared Bonner) show up on the doorstep, and even if they seem incompetent as can be, it seems they have just stepped into an open-and-shut case ...

In writing, it might seem The Blackout is just your typical gross-out comedy as it has all the right (?) elements: Hardcore partying, massive alcohol and drug use, puking aplenty, a dead deer and of course a burning sofa - but on closer inspection, The Blackout is actually a very interesting and unusual murder mystery, as despite all the boozing and puking and whatnot, the whole thing is rather well-structured, it peels away layer after layer of its story while only seemingly stumbling through an alcohol-induced mist and actually manages to tell a story with beginning, middle and end rather than a series of loosely connected fart jokes. Add to this a direction that avoids the obvious, often interesting yet subtle camerawork and a very competent cast, and you've got a pretty good movie.

Recommended!

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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