Black Out - DVD

Content: As Al Pacino said it so well as Michael Corleone in The Godfather III: Just when I think I'm out, they pull me back in. That's exactly what ex-con Jos (Raymond Thiry) thinks when he wakes up the day before his wedding with a thick skull and an enormous film tear. This wouldn't be a big deal if it weren't for a strange man lying in bed next to him who's been put in the head with a bullet. Immediately Jos switches back into his old gangster mode, wraps up the body and plans to make it disappear. But before that can happen, he is caught by the henchmen of drug lord Vlad (Simon Armstrong) and brought to the brutal gangster. The latter claims that Jos stole 20 kilos of cocaine from him the previous night - and now he wants it back. Otherwise, it's not only him but also his future wife on the collar. Jos has to find the stolen cocaine in just 24 hours. Too bad that a whole bunch of other gangsters and even his future father-in-law are interested in the drugs. This would actually be the perfect time to recall the events of the previous night. But the blackout just won't go away...

With Black Out, Dutch director Arne Toonen has directed a black-humoured thriller that very obviously takes its cue from films by Quentin Tarantino or Guy Ritchie. Besides some direct quotes, it's mainly visual stylistic devices, the dialogues and he bloody humor that remind us of these directors. Since in the last years there were again and again mostly not very successful Pulp Fiction-, Reservoir Dogs- or Jack, Queen, King, and Ace -copies, Black Out truly can't be called original. Even if characters like the trigger-happy dog groomers are nice ideas, you always have the feeling to have seen the whole thing somewhere before.

The big surprise effect is missing here. Now the question arises, what about the entertainment value, which is usually not very high in the absence of originality. And exactly here Arne Toonen can surprise. Even if he never reaches the quality of his idols, his copy turns out to be so funny and charming that you are happy to overlook it. Admittedly, the humor is a bit overdone at times and the story is a bit overloaded with the many side characters. But the fast pace, the delightfully quirky characters and some wonderfully black humorous interludes easily make up for minor flaws.

Black Out may not exactly revolutionize the thriller-comedy genre. But if you like Tarantino-, Ritchie- or Coen-Brothers-style movies, you will be really entertained here. Arne Toonen proves in an entertaining way that well copied really is better than badly self-made. And for this there is then, despite minor hangs a deserved: worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: The image of the DVD pleases with a good overall sharpness, which has only a few quality losses even in darker scenes. The coherent colour scheme and well-matched contrasts also leave a positive impression. The sound has some good surround moments to offer, but is otherwise dominated by the very directionally mixed dialogue and soundtrack. All this is enough on balance for a satisfied: Good!

Extras: As a bonus, there is on the DVD in addition to the trailer still the amusing short film Oh Deer, in which Arne Toonen has already proven his penchant for black humor. Not much, but worth watching!

Conclusion: Black Out follows faithfully the motto: Better well copied, than badly self-made. Director Arne Toonen uses sometimes very obvious, sometimes a little more subtle from his great idols Quentin Tarantino, Guy Ritchie and also from the Coen brothers. That's not really original. But the way Toonen presents his black-humored gangster comedy is just really fun. If you can overlook the lack of originality and don't mind some less successful moments, you'll get almost 90 minutes of wacky, wonderfully nasty and quite bloody entertainment here, which doesn't come close to its role models, but overall does them justice. Recommendable

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp