Blackout DVD Review

Blackout

Review By: Kelsey Zukowski
Starring: Sean Blakemore, Zoe Saldana, Michel B. Jordan
Written & Directed By: Jerry LaMouthe
Released: 2007
Grade: B+

Blackout is a film that takes place on August 14, 2003; the day of one of the most massive blackouts in the United State’s history. Those residing in New York, Detroit, Michigan, Cleveland, Ohio, Toronto, and Ottawa, Canada were some of the places that had to deal with this including a total of 7 U.S. states. In just a few minutes following the initial power outage, 21 power plants shut down. This put many people at a disadvantage since we have become so reliant on electricity. However, in most places lives weren’t put in to direct danger because of this. Blackout explores a neighborhood in Brooklyn on this day where this was the case though, where this meant the difference between life and death for some people.

Claudine (Saldana) has been having problems with her boyfriend, James (Blakemore). James has been out of work for a while now and is trying to give him the push she feels that he needs. This spurs a fight between them and they talk about James moving out. When later that day the entire city has no electricity, she is just worried about James as he is about her. This gives them a chance to talk about their problems. James really hasn’t being doing good lately. He witnessed the plane crash that hit the World Trade Center on 9/11 and it has never really left his mind. James has been trying to just deal with this and act like he believes that everything will be okay. He just can’t though, and he is finally bringing his feelings out in the open for the first time. James decides that the only hope he has to come to terms with things is to get some professional help.

Meanwhile, havoc is present all across the city. There are those who are just trying to get through the inconveniences, but others are vastly taking advantage of the situation. Crime breaks out in the neighborhood. A Muslim small business owner is robbed and degraded, losing everything he has worked for. C.J. (Jordan) is in a similar position too, but he attempts to stop some of this madness. He has made it through his life staying away from the world of crime and drugs. C.J. has gotten in to college and had plans to make something of himself. When the store he works for is getting robbed by one of his friends, he tries to talk sense in him. C.J. is betrayed in the process and his life forever altered.

By having a mostly unknown cast, the film benefited. The most famous actor in this was Zoe Saldana, who has had supportive roles in Guess Who?, Drumline, and Center Stage. She really isn’t a huge star though. Saldana did do well with her role in Blackout more so than anything else I have seen her in. I hope she continues to chose roles like this where her emotions are visible and making her easy to relate to. Sean Blakemore as her boyfriend heightened this even farther. At the beginning of the film, it seemed like he was going to be the typical unappreciative boyfriend. His character grew a lot and it became clear that he was never a flawed individual in the first place. He was kind of the opposite of Adam Sandler’s character in Reign Over Me. They both simply couldn’t deal with the effects that the 9/11 attacks had on their lives. Sandler’s character’s approach was to act as if there was no consequences almost in a childlike state. James, on the other hand, just became a hollow person; almost ghost like. The deaths he witnessed temporarily took his ability to truly live. Michael B. Jordan did a good job as well as someone who had been almost literally stabbed in the back by a life long friend. Selfish acts had been committed against him when he had spent his whole life making smart decisions, but this one day ruined that all for him.

The characters really helped shape this film. The only points where some characters seem a little more weak is towards the beginning. Aside from the growth of James, there are two older men in the film that reflect upon this. The landlord of the apartment and the janitor have somewhat of a dispute about the janitor’s work lately. They end up sitting talking all day and night long about life in the dark. The landlord learns that this person that he barely knew anything about, has so many interesting life stories. He had played baseball with Jackie Robinson and was a player in the negro baseball league. This does two things for the movie. The first is that it shows knowledge and experience in age. The second is that if you never take the time to get to know those around you, you could really be missing out. So many people just keep to themselves for the most part and don’t even notice many of those around them. It took the danger around them to bring these two together.

Blackout is a very interesting film that shows a day that many of us experienced. For most of us though, it was a challenging day, but not to this same extent. I never really thought much about how others might be in a far worse situation. When these crimes are being committed all you can do is just let it happen or fight, hoping that you will live to see another day. There were several neighborhoods where this was the case and Blackout explores this, showing what some of these situations could have been like.