Blackout DVD Review

In the summer of 2003, America experienced the largest blackout in its history—widely reported as peaceful. But in Brooklyn’s forgotten East Flatbush neighborhood, mayhem unfolded when the power shut down. Jerry LaMothe’s Blackout is the untold story of the event where night full, looters emerged, violence surfaced, and residents feared for their lives. The premise does seem a little unoriginal but it has potential, right? Wrong. Blackout is 95 minutes of convoluted storytelling that loses its way from frame one and never finds its way back to the beaten path.

The most evident problem with this film is the inconsistency and inability to establish a cohesive tone. There are too many characters, too many meandering plotlines, and no central core to help hold the film together. There’s the thread of Claudine (Zoe Saldana) and James (Sean Blakemore), who are a couple facing difficulties. She’s a hardworking woman and he is currently unemployed. We learn later that he was laid off a year or two earlier, following 9/11. Also, there is a short unnecessary flashback scene where the second plane crash is witnessed. It adds nothing to the story and lowers the integrity of the film by leaning on 9/11 as a crutch because the story takes place in New York. There is nothing wrong with 9/11 inferences but the contrived scene does not jive. However, this is by far the only sensible and somewhat strong plotline of the bunch because is shows a couple struggling with a highly relatable problem in a very human way.

The rest of the plotlines are contrived and utterly confused. Nelson (Jeffrey Wright) is the “family” head at a local barbershop with some other neighborhood folk. Unfortunately, this thread tries much too hard to invoke humor, which never comes, and paints blacks with a stereotypical brush. The story between George (Melvin Van Peebles) and Sol (Saul Rubinek) is an attempt to bring some heart to the film with a Jewish building owner deciding not to kick out an aging maintenance man and seize his home because good old George used to play professional baseball. C.J.’s (Michael B. Jordan) story is tragic but ultimately disengaging. He’s an all around good person with a college degree, who suffers at the hand of a jealous neighbor in the heat of social unrest. Then there’s Fatima (Susan Kelechi Watson) who finally wises up to her cheating simpleton boyfriend’s ways and becomes an advocate for peace and understanding in the neighborhood. Also, she finally gives Ali (Nehal Joshi), the local convenient store clerk, a chance to get to know her on a romantic level. His character is especially annoying when he gives these little one-line monologues that serve as the ultimate excessive exposition.

Even if you ignore the major plots, you will find countless faults. For instance, during the blackout, you see people literally just walk into store and then the workers are surprised they are being looted. Don’t you usually greet people at the door of a retail store? It’s quite jarring and unrealistic. Little things like this really prevent you from enjoying the film. Also, George J. Fontenette’s role as the composer becomes quite comical. The music is so far out of place that it really helps distort whatever tone the film is attempting to achieve. Of course, if you notice this, you’ll definitely notice the poor wavering audio quality throughout the duration of the film.

I must mention that there is one thing in this film I enjoyed. During the two days of calamity, there is a radio voice over heard of a white girl reporting how the crisis has pulled her neighborhood together and produced a loving and positive environment. Yes, the irony is a little on the nose but it’s still induces a smile.

As for the Special Features, they are on the same level as the film. The interview with director, Jerry LaMothe is extremely poor. The questions asked are erroneous and there seems to be no real drive. The Behind-The-Scenes Special is much too short to give the viewer any real idea about how things went on the shoot. The Extended/Deleted Scenes are so-so—mostly uninteresting. The only two good features are Meet the Cast and 2003 Blackout: True Stories. The cast has more insight on the film than the director and some of the true stories are truly interesting.

Blackout is a confused film with clashing tones and a wavering structure. The acting is not powerful enough and the directing is not the least bit titillating. This is a film that could have been something highly entertaining but instead, it falls by the wayside and leaves you hoping that the electricity fails, causing your DVD player to stop.