The Blackout

Critics Consensus

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Movie Info

Cult figure Abel Ferrara directed this typically edgy look at an actor whose abuse of alcohol and drugs takes an unexpected toll. Matty (Matthew Modine) is an actor whose career is on the fast track; however, he's not able to handle the pressures of life in Hollywood, so he heads to Miami to recharge his emotional batteries. Given Miami's night life, this might not have been the wisest choice he could have made, as he's soon sunk deep in a sea of drink and drugs. Matty asks his girlfriend Annie (Beatrice Dalle) to marry him, but she turns him down, as she's still bitter about having to have an abortion when he got her pregnant some time back. Matty, however, can barely remember this event. Matty's friend Mickey (Dennis Hopper), a night club owner and video artist, decides that Matty needs to get away from his problems, and they set out for a long night of heavy partying, during which Matty picks up a waitress, also named Annie (Sarah Lassez). Somewhere along the line, Matty drinks so much that he blacks out, and he awakes with no memory of the evening. 18 months later, Matty is clean and sober, living in New York with his new girlfriend Susan (Claudia Schiffer). He can't get Annie out of his mind, and he flies to Miami to visit her, hoping to close some old wounds. But Annie the waitress turns out to have some bad news for him when he arrives in Florida. The Blackout marked the acting debut of model Claudia Schiffer, and, as in several of Ferrara's previous films, seminal hardcore rapper Schooly D contributed several songs to the soundtrack.

Rating:

R (for strong pervasive drug use, language, sexual content and violence)
Genre:

Drama, Mystery & Suspense
Directed By:

Abel Ferrara
Written By:

Abel Ferrara, Christ Zois, Marla Hanson, Maria Hanson
In Theaters:

Jun 11, 1997 wide
On Disc/Streaming:

Jun 19, 2001
Runtime:

94 minutes
Studio:

Trimark Pictures

Cast

Matthew Modine
as Matty

Dennis Hopper
as Mickey Wayne

Claudia Schiffer
as Susan

Beatrice Dalle
as Annie No. 1

Sarah Lassez
as Annie No. 2

Steven Bauer
as Mickey's Studio Actor

Edge
as Wild Bar Patron

Laura Bailey
as Mickey's Studio Actor

Nancy Ferrara
as Mickey's Studio Actor

Andrew Fiscella
as Mickey's Studio Actor

Vincent Lamberti
as Mickey's Studio Actor

Victoria Duffy
as Script Girl

Nicholas Decegli
as Miami Dealer

Daphne Duplaix
as Fly Girl

Mercy Lopez
as Fly Girl

Lori Eastside
as That Girl

Shareef Malnik
as Gold Carder

Peter Cannold
as Movie Investor

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News & Interviews for The Blackout

Further Reading: Marion Cotillard and Forest Whittaker in Abel Ferrara’s Mary

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Critic Reviews for The Blackout

All Critics (8) | Top Critics (2) | DVD (2)

Dizzying visual style can't conceal the shallow, self-indulgent nature of Ferrara's sleazy erotic thriller, one of his worst pictures with a terrible performance by a miscast Matthew Modine at its center

Oct 20, 2007 | Rating: D

Emanuel Levy
Variety
Top Critic
Ferrara ... proves incapable of making distinctions between his inspired and indulgent impulses.

Jun 18, 2006 | Rating: C | Full Review…

Nick Schager
Lessons of Darkness
With vacuous dialogue and little sense of character or direction, it oozes from one amateurishly conceived scene to the next.

Mar 11, 2003 | Rating: 0/4 | Full Review…

Joshua Tanzer
Offoffoff
The presentation and the acting make you stop caring.

Feb 28, 2002 | Rating: 2/5 | Full Review…

Michael W. Phillips, Jr.
Goatdog's Movies

View All Critic Reviews (8)

Audience Reviews for The Blackout

Oct 06, 2009

From the 1997 Toronto International Film Festival.A Complete waste of my time, This is the worst of all the movies I have seen from this Festival. What was this movie about, had to be a low point in everyone?s career. I knew I was in trouble when netflix sent me a 1997 Movie, that had not a scratch one on it. Looked like a movie right out of the case, meaning, no one has watched it, and for good reason. You give this anything more then 2 stars you might want to get a life. Gets 1/2 a star from me. TRASH IT

Bruce B Super Reviewer
Nov 19, 2007

A film I am shocked that more Ferrara fans don't love. Sure it's reminiscent of other works by him, but that's one of the things that makes it great. Modine is awesome as the scumbag lead who goes to Hopper for help on piecing together a night that he blacked out. Terrific stuff that deserves a lot more praise than it got.

Christopher B Super Reviewer
Apr 21, 2007

A strange film really, bit slow to start with but has a very good ending with a twist.

Dean K Super Reviewer