Movies - Blow Out

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	Movies - Blow Out

:For the book, see Blow Out (book).

Blow Out is a 1981 film by Brian De Palma starring John Travolta as Jack Terry, a movie sound effect technician from Philadelphia who, while recording sounds for a low-budget horror film, accidentally captures audio evidence of the possible assassination of the Pennsylvania governor who was planning to run for President.

While John Travolta's performance is usually praised, the performance of his co-star Nancy Allen (in the role of Sally, a prostitute who was riding in the governor's limousine when he was killed) is considered by some critics to be the weakest part of the film. Also in the movie are Dennis Franz as sleazy private investigator Manny Karp, a Zapruderesque figure and John Lithgow as the coldblooded assassin Burke.

The movie is also noted for its tragic ending. Jack races through Philadelphia's "Liberty Day" parade in an attempt to keep Sally from being killed by Burke, but he is unsuccessful, and kills Burke in turn for revenge. Because he has wired Sally for sound, he immortalizes her by using her scream on the soundtrack of a movie he has been editing.

Critical reaction

Initial reaction to Blow Out was mixed. Some critics, such as Pauline Kael, thought the film was a masterpiece. In her review in The New Yorker, Kael noted, "It's a great movie." She elaborated, "I think De Palma has sprung to the place that Robert Altman achieved with films such as McCabe and Mrs. Miller and Nashville and that Francis Ford Coppola reached with the two Godfather
films -- that is, to the place where genre is transcended and what we're moved by is an artist's vision." Roger Ebert gave it four stars, and in his review in the Chicago Sun-Times stated, "Best of all, this movie is inhabited by a real cinematic intelligence. The audience isn't condescended to...We share the excitement of figuring out how things develop and unfold, when so often the movies only need us as passive witnesses." At the same time, Andrew Sarris despised the film, denouncing it as "misogynistic". And Harlan Ellison famously walked out of a Writers Guild Film Society screening, stating that DePalma's movie "consciously and gratuitously debased the human spirit."

Over the years, the general critical response to the film has become much more favorable, and many critics now agree that Blow Out is one of De Palma's best movies. Quentin Tarantino has consistently praised the movie, and listed it as one of his favorite three films, along with Rio Bravo and Taxi Driver
.

Trivia

The title and themes of the film are an homage to Antonioni's 1966 film Blowup
.
In the French version, John Travolta's voice was dubbed by actor Gérard Depardieu
.

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Movies - Blow Out

Critical reaction

Trivia

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