Out of Blue

IFC Films | Release Date: March 22, 2019

5.3	USER SCORE Mixed or average reviews based on 6 Ratings

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TVJerryMar 23, 2019

It's fitting that redhead Patricia Clarkson dyes her hair black for this role, the film's darkness pervades every frame (and every strand). She plays a sullen detective in New Orleans and, like any movie cop, she has substance abuse issues.It's fitting that redhead Patricia Clarkson dyes her hair black for this role, the film's darkness pervades every frame (and every strand). She plays a sullen detective in New Orleans and, like any movie cop, she has substance abuse issues. Her current case is the murder of an astrophysicist (Mamie Gummer), but this is far from a typical procedural. Writer/director Carol Morely has opted for a neo-noir that certainly hits the dark part right, but adds a metaphysical/quantum physics element that just clutters the investigation. Even with all this pretentiousness, the big reveal was telegraphed early, so no big surprise there. Slack pacing, dull writing and an uninteresting case combine to drag this story into a black hole of boredom.… Expand

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Bertaut1Mar 22, 2019

A clichéd, predictable, tonally inconsistent mess

Part murder-mystery, part esoteric cosmological rumination, part metaphysical neo-noir, writer/director Carol Morley's Out of Blue is a complete shambles. That this is so gives me no pleasureA clichéd, predictable, tonally inconsistent mess

Part murder-mystery, part esoteric cosmological rumination, part metaphysical neo-noir, writer/director Carol Morley's Out of Blue is a complete shambles. That this is so gives me no pleasure at all, as I'm a big fan of both Dreams of a Life (2011) and The Falling (2014). Loosely based on Martin Amis's 1997 novel Night Train, Out of Blue is obviously designed as a puzzle - the story only ever seems half-formed, as if we're seeing it through gauze. Mixing tones, themes, and styles, the film tries to be many things at once, but ultimately ends up being none of them; far too simplistic to be a fully realised examination of the nature of existence, far too predictable to be a whodunnit, far too clichéd to be a noir.

Set in New Orleans in an unspecified time period, the film follows Det. Mike Hoolihan (Patricia Clarkson) as she investigates the murder of astrophysicist Jennifer Rockwell (Mamie Gummer), an expert on black holes and a proponent of the multiverse theory. The investigation will ultimately involve quantum mechanics, dark matter, string theory, Schrödinger's cat, and the double-slit experiment, as well as forcing Hoolihan to confront a childhood trauma she has repressed and an unsolved serial killer case from the 1970s; the ".38 Killer", who always killed women that looked a lot like Jennifer.

Out of Blue attempts to connect the relative mundanity of human suffering to the vast unknowable mysteries of the universe. On the surface, this is quite similar to what Terrence Malick does in The Tree of Life (2011). However, whereas Malick was essentially making the point that the birth of a galaxy is analogous with the birth of a child and that spirituality and science are not mutually exclusive, Morley sets our existence as a random and infinitesimal fragment in the impossible-to-conceive-of enormity of the universe.

Unfortunately, the predictable outcome of the murder investigation has virtually nothing whatsoever to do with black holes and the multiverse. Audiences will be left asking such questions as why is there so much information on Jennifer's research; is it all just an elaborate MacGuffin. The idea is obviously that in searching for the killer, Hoolihan is discovering herself, played out against the backdrop of infinity, but the film never addresses why we should care, as it doesn't actually say anything interesting or significant about the connection between humanity and the strange goings-on of space-time.

The quotidian nature of the whodunnit isn't helped by the fact that much of the acting is questionable, which seems unbelievable given the cast. As Jennifer's parents, Jackie Weaver appears to be in a completely different film to everyone else, and James Caan is simply doing an imitation of John Huston in Chinatown (1974). Devyn A. Tyler as a novice reporter, and Todd Mann and Brad Mann as Jennifer's creepy twin brothers never manage to escape the archetypal noir parameters of the characters they play. Yolanda T. Ross and Aaron Tveit, as Hoolihan's boss and colleague, respectively, are basically extras. Even Patricia Clarkson struggles with breathing life into the material. The problem, however, lies with Morley's script, rather than the actors. Essentially refusing to allow the audience any kind of emotional connection with the characters, Morley instead reduces the performances to shouting and clichés.

On the other hand Conrad W. Hall's cinematography is excellent, flattening New Orleans in the background, and essentially creating an oppressive and generic geographical location that could be anywhere yet is always just out of reach, something which works in tandem with Hoolihan's repressed memories.

With the identity of the killer proving so banal (and so predictable), the film essentially tasks its metaphysical component with the heavy lifting. However, despite creating a dream-like narrative, always receding from the viewer, Morley can't cut loose of the shackles of genre, with the film's last act falling back on melodrama and coincidence. Ultimately, we're left with a film where nothing emerges fully formed. If it's really about Hoolihan's existential discovery of self, why is psychological nuance utterly absent? If it's a murder mystery, why is it so predictable? If it's an esoteric rumination about eternity, why are so many of the necessary components presented in such a simplistic manner? Morley's themes and tones end up tripping over and undermining one another, as she fails to integrate the metaphysical concepts with the murder plot, and all in all, it's a misfire for a heretofore promising director.… Expand

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Mauro_LanariDec 2, 2019

(Mauro Lanari)
Like an "A Serious Man" (2009) or "Interstellar" (2014) shot by Lynch or his mentor, producer and alter ego Laura Dern. Psychedelic and bewitching, however in the third act the dissolution ("lysis") of the plot ("desis/ploke")(Mauro Lanari)
Like an "A Serious Man" (2009) or "Interstellar" (2014) shot by Lynch or his mentor, producer and alter ego Laura Dern. Psychedelic and bewitching, however in the third act the dissolution ("lysis") of the plot ("desis/ploke") is far from being exhaustive. The detective's demons, the motivations of the serial killer, the dynamics of the first death are not explained but allusively hinted. Irritating yet atmospheric. There are scientific inaccuracies but it's a low-budget film and not everyone can afford a Kip Thorne as consultant.… Expand

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DawdlingPoetNov 27, 2021

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is not a film for everyone - its very much an arty film with a fair amount of philosophy/cosmology present at times, that may put some people off. I suppose its a little slow plot wise but I liked that it gives the viewer time to contemplate things.

It emphasises/focusses in on the colour blue a lot (the blue of the sea and, moreso, the sky (but I guess the films title hinted at that). There is quite a melancholic feel to it but I liked following the main character, Mike, around, discovering what they discovered. I thought Miriam was a particularly interesting character. I also liked the musical score - it's not too loud and jarring or anything - it highlights the main characters curiosiy and perseverence to solve the case.

I felt this film is rather understated. To some it may appear quite bleak and bland but I see its appeal - its not entirely memorable but it's worth seeing I reckon anyway, so yes, I'd recommend it, so long as you know what kind of film it is. I reckon it'd look particularly good seeing it, visually, on as large a screen as possible.… Expand

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