Black Rock releases on home video July 30th, 2013.
There is one key question to ask when reviewing Black Rock: “Is this movie JUST a female-driven Deliverance, or does it offer something more?” And I guess I’m here to tell you that while yes, the film has a few interesting things to say… it doesn’t amount to much more than a pale shadow of Deliverance.
Maybe that whole framework isn’t fair, being that Deliverance is an absolutely great and classic film. But the comparison almost has to be made, as the set ups for both films are somewhat identical. In Deliverance you have a group of suburban, “fish out of water” dudes being hunted out in isolated river country where the locals clearly feel they don’t belong. Black Rock concerns itself with a trio of fragmented friends heading to an isolated island from their childhood, only to end up hunted when they discover the island isn’t as abandoned as they thought.
To Black Rock’s credit, there are a lot of things going for it. This isn’t just another “meat grinder” horror or torture porn entry from the good folks at Lionsgate. Black Rock stars, is partially written by, and entirely directed by Katie Aselton (The League.) I think she is a real filmmaker and infuses a certain amount of relational authenticity to the three leads and to their horrible journey within the film. Also to the film’s credit, the trio of leads they pulled together in Aselton as Abby, Kate Bosworth as Sarah, and Lake Bell as Lou, are pretty comfortable in their characters’ skins. They feel like old friends with baggage, which is exactly how they are supposed to feel.
For me, the problems with the film started early on, though, and I couldn’t get past some of my various issues with the film enough to really embrace it or really like it a whole lot. The screenplay, written by Aselton’s husband Mark Duplass (who I kind of love) and based on a story by Aselton, always FEELS like a screenplay to me. There are some elements that I think are kind of clever, or have dramatic payoff, but they never feel like anything other than a screenwriter’s machinations. A couple of examples: Sarah is the bridge-builder friend here, the friend who has stayed close with both Abby and Lou, even when Lou and Abby’s relationship had come to a dramatic end many years ago (I’ll let them reveal what came between them.) This tension between our leads feels like perfect set up for a little drama, and provides some space for our leads to cross over in coming together when disaster strikes. But it all just feels like “drama” to me, like soap opera-level stuff. It FEELS like set up, and doesn’t ring true. Another example is the fact that the girls’ very first mission when they arrive at the island is kind of sweet and cute: Sarah brought along maps for them to go and find a time capsule that they had buried on the island when they were little girls. This search gets interrupted, and will become significantly more important when the action really begins. This treasure map thread is simultaneously clever, while also (once again), feeling way more like a convenient device for the script than reality.
I wouldn’t ask the film to adhere so closely to reality, maybe, if it was a more far-out premise, or embraced its genre roots a little bit more. But Black Rock is trying to be more of a relationship movie than it is trying to be a thriller. Or at least it succeeds more as a film exploring modern female friendships and humans’ abilities to fight and survive when stripped of everything. But I didn’t feel “thrilled” or even really very tense until well into the third act of the movie. At least when that third act hits, there ARE some great, primal, and elemental kinds of thrills to be found. Literally (and figuratively) stripped bare, our leads have some wonderful moments of desperate camaraderie and find the will to fight back in a particularly effective final confrontation with their stalkers.
The final act being effective was probably too little too late, though. When the film hinges on the core trio of relationships, and that trio felt underwritten, that is a major problem. Even if the cast does a lot to make it work. There are some significant twists along the way that I’ve opted to let viewers discover on their own. But it is also problematic for me when I can see plot developments or twists coming from a mile away, and that was the case here. I wouldn’t say it is ALWAYS an issue when you know exactly what is going to happen in a movie. For instance, I know Sylvester Stallone is going to win in every single movie he is ever in, and I still love the guy. And Matlock pretty much won all his cases. But here in Black Rock, I wanted to be challenged by Duplass and Aselton, I wanted to be surprised or shocked. Instead I knew every beat well before it happened, and really only the final moments of the film really clicked for me the way I think the filmmakers intended.
Ultimately this is a negative review although I feel somewhat conflicted about that. There are some elements to Black Rock that are good enough to elevate it above your typical bland survival-horror scenario. But it never rises to the level of being a worthy ancestor to Deliverance, and when you’ve got folks like Aselton and Duplass helming, your standards get a little heightened. I expected more from Black Rock, but part of that comes from the respect I have for its creators. I want to see more from Aselton and the rest of this team, but Black Rock ultimately wasn’t the film I really hoped for from them. I’ll give them another shot, because I think they’ve got chops. But Black Rock gets filed under “disappointment.”
The Package
Not to just lay on the criticism here, but I genuinely felt that the visuals of Black Rock were sub-par. The film takes place entirely on location. Real wilderness. Real island. No sets. But the cinematography by Hillary Spera never felt inspired to me. There were some really weirdly framed shots, and some sequences that just didn’t have much verve to them. And the colors were very muted as well. I’d have liked to see the island that is trapping our lead characters look stunning and beautiful. It would have added a level of irony that ended up being a missed opportunity. So all that said, I don’t feel like the Blu-ray really looked particularly amazing as the visuals were a part of my disappointment with the film.
The disc does come with everything you could want for a home video release, which is nice to be able to report. You get a typical “behind the scenes” featurette which shows just how home-grown this movie really is. You also get a trailer and a pretty cool segment featuring musician Ben Lovett talking about how he created the score for the film, which is actually a highlight of the movie that I didn’t get to mention yet. The score feels fresh and hip and offers a different take on a thriller score which I really appreciated. There is also a commentary on the disc featuring Aselton and Bell which is very anecdotal and warm, but I didn’t find very enlightening. I mostly dig informative and insightful commentaries that hit on the themes and meaning behind the film. These two mostly approached the commentary as a family reunion, which is totally fine, but not my favorite approach to commentary.
The bonus materials are solid and thorough, even if the film itself doesn’t quite live up to expectations. Overall, I’d say Black Rock is a rental if you are intrigued by the premise or the talent involved like I was. Otherwise, this is a safe pass.
And I’m Out.