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Overrated

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

The Blackout (1997) was a film that Abel Ferrara directed but it wasn't released in the United States for nearly four years. But it was worth the wait. Instead of his usual gritty street dramas, Ferrara delves into the soul of his characters and how damaging self guilt and having an unforgiving conscience can be. Matthew Modine stars as a free wheeling celebrity who lives the life style of sex and drugs. One night after a wild night of self indulgence, he wakes up a can't remember what happened. But his old lady is dead and he feels like he's responsible. Years later, he's clean and sober but his past comes back and haunts him. One of his running buddies (Dennis Hopper) comes back into his life and his old habits return. With the return of his bad habits, a ghost from the past haunts his every step. He even begins to see a woman that looks just like his dead woman. But he's unable to get over the past and goes back to his self destructive ways. Soon he's so far gone that there's only one thing to do. Return to his dead love.A dark and twisted movie. This is another type of cinema that Abel Ferrara excels in. If it isn't the urban street drama then it's the guilty soul seeking redemption or solace. Abel Ferrara is a highly underrated director who deserves recognition for his films. A great film maker and story teller.Highly recommended.

Movie star in a failing relationship goes to Miami and Mexico on drug and booze binge to try and put things together. Instead he falls into a blackout and loses the girl with Hopper filming a video about it all. So he goes back to New York. drys out and finds another woman but he takes one of the AA steps too far for his own good. Making amends can be difficult if he killed the woman? The film missed US theaters and I can see why. The dreamier scenes and symbolism are ruined by the sound track which is deafening, irritating and not at all in tune with the flow of the picture. Modine is good but Hopper only goes thru the motions.

It takes a while to get into the movie's mood - Modine's druggy trawl through a razor-sharp Miami is not very well differentiated despite Ferrara's excellent handling, teetering at the edge of surrender to the prevailing decadence but always retaining a distinct alienation and fascinated disgust. Later on the style becomes more tightly formal and controlled, befitting Modine's cleared up state, and Ferrara's portrayal of his obsession and disquietude is very effective in a more conventionally expositional way. Towards the end the mechanics of the ultimate revelation really take over, but Hopper's final long profane shouting fit at Modine after he learns the truth is too hard-hitting to be set aside, and the high-risk final image is oddly touching - the movie is a plausible account of a true lost soul grappling for stability in a world of temptation and internal darkness, with neat (albeit stunt) casting.

Lots of people seem to hate this film, but I think it is one of his strongest. Modine and Hopper are a great team. Ferrara does a fine job of summoning up the brooding menace of suppressed memories and bad love. Dennis Hopper takes time off from being a pantomime villain, and becomes genuinely scary for sheer decadence instead. The sunshine and sleaze of Miami are perfect counterpoints to one another.Claudia Schiffer lets the side down a tad, being only nice but dim. Oh, and the Schooly D title song is not really all that. But mostly it hits the spot.