Black Out (2012)

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, at least that’s how the saying goes and it seems that director Arne Toonen wants to really flatter Guy Ritchie with this Dutch version of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. It is a movie which was made for TV (financed by the Public Dutch Broadcasting Corporation), but it regularly happens that they are also shown at the cinema. This was one of them (even though it only had a short run) and I unfortunately wasn’t able to see it there. Now out on DVD I finally had a chance to check it out.

When Jos Vreeswijk (Raymond Thiry) wakes up in the morning when his soon to be wife calls him he is shocked when he finds out there is a dead body next to him. He soon also finds out that he’s supposed to have 20 kilos of cocaine in his possession, at least that what others tell him. He can’t remember anything about it and although he was a criminal in the past he had chosen to live a normal life. He now has to get rid of the body and find out where the cocaine is. What doesn’t help is that various criminal groups want to get their hands on it as well and all try to put pressure on him to deliver.

Just like the Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch movies it is filled with funny situations, crazy characters and several storylines that all lead to a nice wrapup where everything comes together. So it might not be very original, but the writing is strong enough and characters funny enough to really make it work. There are a lot of Dutch celebrities who have parts in it, including the hilarious duo of rappers Willie Wartaal and Kempi as dog groomers (who also sell drugs). Black Out is very entertaining and worth seeing if you like the old Guy Ritchie movies. It’s out in the Netherlands on DVD, but unfortunately doesn’t seem to have any subtitle options, so it might be pretty hard to watch it if you don’t speak Dutch.

Score: 8

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqGzuwHsLnA]