Out of Blue [DVD]

The director would like you to think that she has created an 'enigmatic' movie. 'Contrived' is a more apt description. It doesn't work for me, and as I watched I grew increasingly impatient. I actually felt annoyed that a good actor like Patricia Clarkson and an interesting premise should be misused in this way. The other actors contributed little, though I did recently see 'The Good Neighbor' and wasn't ready for another dose of the ageing James Caan so maybe it's partly my fault. The artwork describes the director as 'visionary' and the film as 'dazzling, stylish, mesmerising and thrilling'. No it isn't, it's irritating, lethargic and ultimately disposable.

This could have been a first class detective story but let down by being too clever particularly with the ending.

Bought as a present

Highly overrated film. Had high expectations due to literary origin of film that did not deliver. Utterly dull. Shame!

This is very much a marmite film; you either dig the weird noir vibe or you don't. Those looking for a straightforward murder mystery may be frustrated by a fairly easily guessable villain but if you like a little indie weirdness with your detective stories there's a lot to like in Out of Blue.Having Patricia Clarkson play the lead detective helps immensely; she could literally stare into space and make it interesting. She plays a former alcoholic with PTSD who clearly has her own demons to battle before she even arrives at her search for the murderer of a rising star astrologist (pun intended). Is she loopy or just different in her methods? Does it matter?The Falling director Carol Morley stumbles a little with the mystery aspect, either being too on the nose or too abstract with otherworldly pontifications, but really that's beside the point. This is more of a mood film, sharing DNA with Mulholland Drive or Sharp Objects, stories where you remember the look and sound and characters more than the actual plot. I loved the 50s noir detective aspect. Flawed, then, but if you're in the right headspace this is a treat.

It’s a long time since I took such a strong dislike to a film. I began to disengage quickly as the screenplay seemed to lack narrative structure and kept throwing would be intellectual elements at the audience that were not carried through and seemed, ultimately, to serve no purpose but to confuse and distract from the film’s inherent weaknesses. This was very surprising as the inspirational novel is of a high pedigree. This interpretation came across as both pretentious and vacuous. Despite a talented cast, they failed to engage together and seemed confused themselves about what was going on. At times I felt as if key parts had been cut out to make it more enigmatic. The film looked like it was shot on budget video and I found it as visually unengaging as the narrative. I struggled to watch it to the end and sadly came to the conclusion that I wish I had not bothered. It is disappointing that the film was backed by the BBC and BFI who should not have greenlighted it in my opinion and spent their tight resources on something more deserving.

I happened upon the DVD and, being a huge fan of Patricia Clarkson, wondered how I hadn't heard about this film before. Well, now I know. Sadly, it terribly slow and utterly forgettable. Clarkson is solid enough, but the script doesn't really give her much to work with. Her character is not particularly likable and the unflattering make up and costumes don't help either.The story, one that could have been an interesting murder mystery, is slow and lacks in urgency. I never really cared what had happened and why. There are long silences that don't seem to add anything to the story. Not even suspense. Personally, I prefer films with a run time around ninety minutes. With almost a hundred and ten, this one outstayed its welcome. Also, I found the cinematography with a lot of dull blues and greys and dim lighting and out of focus backgrounds rather annoying. This kind of thing unfortunately seems to be quite the fashion these days, but all it does for me is make me wonder if I have the right glasses on or reach for the remote to adjust the levels of my TV.What made this - just about - watchable are the very decent performances from the entire cast. Especially Jacki Weaver who appears in a rather small supporting role is rather fun. That and the fact that new releases are few and far between these days.The DVD has subtitles for those who may want or need them. By way of extra features there is a trailer and a few deleted scenes. The DVD menu is badly designed. The selected option is highlighted so faintly that I found it impossible to tell which one I was selecting. This latter is a serious flaw in the product design.