Ah, Depalma. I've yet to mention my love of the man's movies on this blog, but he's had a rather large effect on me. Though he's released plenty of stinkers in the past (Especially nowadays) there was a period of time where every sodding film the guy made was a thriller par excellence. A tribute to the numerous film-makers he loved and a finely crafted thrill-ride. Blow Out definitely fits into that category.
John Travolta plays Jack Terry, a movie sound-effects technician who, while out recording sounds for the B-movie he's working on, witnesses a car drive into a river. He dives in without a second thought and manages to save the sole surviving occupant (The other one missing a chunk of his head) and bring her to a nearby hospital. Once there, he's informed by police that the dead man was the Governor (And possibly the country's next president) and that the girl he saved was a prostitute. Told that what he witnessed was simply a drunken fool crashing his car while diddling a hooker, Terry doesn't let go.
Convinced he heard a gun-shot during the accident and that the car didn't simply have a blow out, Terry attempts to use the sounds he recorded to prove his hypothesis, and gets entangled in the aftermath of a political plot.
Now, something that makes this film stand out is it's protagonist. Apart from the fact that Travolta gives a really solid performance as Terry (A shock, I know) his job gives the movie a unique spin. It's like a time-capsule to yesteryear, showing methods of film-making that have since been usurped by computers and special effects. More than simply a movie about solving a mystery, it's about film-making.
The acting is strong as well. Nancy Allen (The almost-drowned hooker) and Travolta have great chemistry. I mean, it also helps that the writing is rock-solid, but there's something undeniably strong about the performances in the film. John Lithgow's also (As usual) fairly unnerving, a baby-faced political agent.
The camera-work is also bloody fantastic. Anyone who adores Depalma for his use of split-screen will most likely die of euphoria about halfway through the film. A lot of shots look straight-up like posters or paintings, they're that sodding nice.
The film seems to alternate between being somewhat tongue-in-cheek and deadpan serious thriller, which can be a tad muddled at times. As though the film is throwing mixed-messages at the audience. This is something I've noticed in other films by Depalma, but it's even more apparent here due to how dark the film sometimes gets.
One also has to mention that the films seems to dwell heavily upon the Kennedy assassination and other American scandals. I wouldn't go as far as to say it shows contempt for the usual American response to a big-wig politician dieing (Or getting caught with his pants down) but it definitely doesn't paint a pretty picture. Without spoiling the plot, some of the shots and the context of certain scenes illustrate the events that occur as an American tragedy of sorts. A distinctly Stars and Stripes set of hubris and catharsis.
In the end, "Blow Out" is definitely a treat. A voyeuristic look into the world of film-making and political scandal that also manages to channel Michael Powell's "Peeping Tom" with something of a Giallo vibe, it's definitely a choice picture.
4.5/5
Now I've got to actually see Antonioni's Blow-Up....
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