Blackout

Rating NR Formats DVD Genre drama Starring Zoe Saldana, Jeffery Wright, LaTanya Richardson-Jackson Directed by Jerry LaMothe Publisher Paramount External Links Official Paramount Website

Blackout wasn’t what I expected the viewing experience to be. I definitely was dreading watching it. The cover didn’t offer much information about the film. It just looked like a dark and unhappy movie that would not be fun to watch. And I’m all about the fun. However, I was surprised. It wasn’t a movie you came out feeling good at the end, but it did make you think. Jerry LaMothe captured a time of panic very well and left the viewer with a solemn thought to mull over.

Blackout takes place in a small Brooklyn neighborhood and it follows the events that take place on August 13, 2003. The city experiences a blackout because of the maintenance repairs that were happening in the city from September 11, 2001. The blackout is detrimental to the area business and families. Businesses get looted and violence breaks out. Blackout shows how the local residents struggle through this disastrous time in their neighborhood.

The movie began very lightly. The tone was jovial and carefree. A mother was bragging about her son’s acceptance into a renowned college. Four old gossips were sitting on the sidewalk fanning themselves from the heat. Men in a barbershop joked about the girls in trashy music videos. Everything seemed to be going swimmingly. However, as soon as the blackout hit the entire movie went ballistic. I don’t mean that in a bad way necessarily, but things went from light to very dramatic so fast it was hard to keep up. I’m sure it was no picnic getting things stolen from stores and having random violent outbreaks from people. I am also fairly certain that the people who experienced this had much time to act rationally about the situation. However, the movie could have made a better transition from the two emotions. LaMothe did portray both sides very well though. When things were cheerful he made the viewer laugh along with the jokes. When things were in complete disarray he made the viewer pretty nervous for the residents affected. He just could have worked on the transition from those two well portrayed emotions a little better.

I thoroughly enjoyed Jeffery Wright as the barbershop owner, Nelson. He played his character very calm yet happy to joke around. Even during the blackout he was calm and collected, unlike most in the situation. He played the character very strong even though he was not one of the main residents in the movie.

Zoe Saldana was also choice as the character of Claudine. She was emotional in the times of panic without being over the top. She was generally concerned for the well-being of all the people in her neighborhood and her long-time boyfriend. Saldana was passionate as Claudine and was very enjoyable to watch.

One of the characters who was amusing to watch was Nehal Joshi as Ali. He is the local convenient store worker who is sick of being ripped off by dead-beat residents. He allows one of these residents to put all of his groceries on the counter. When the resident assumes it is fine to take the items without paying correctly for them (which seems to be his usual situation) Ali starts yelling and throws a few things at him. It may not sound amusing now, but it showed Joshi as a very entertaining actor.

Again, the movie was better than I expected it to be. One of the things that also made the film slightly hard to follow was that it was clearly a movie made for African-Americans. I can watch a movie that is made with the intention of catering to a different racial audience, but sometimes the content is difficult to understand. The entire cast, except for two Caucasian men, was African-Americans. Although, I do understand that the director was trying to show the experience that these particular residents of this particular area were going through. There was a wise message at the end of the movie that was very moving about the entire situation. However, if you are in the mood for something more slapstick, steer clear of Blackout.