Out of the Blue (Aramoana) (2006)
-
83% of critics liked it
(24 reviews) -
79% of users liked it
(2,493 ratings)
Out of the Blue, New Zealand writer-director Robert Sarkies' long-awaited follow-up to his 1999 feature debut, Scarfies, recreates the events that led up to and surrounded David Gray's November 13, 1990 mass murder of 13 locals in the town of Aramoana, New Zealand. Sarkies, however,… More Out of the Blue, New Zealand writer-director Robert Sarkies' long-awaited follow-up to his 1999 feature debut, Scarfies, recreates the events that led up to and surrounded David Gray's November 13, 1990 mass murder of 13 locals in the town of Aramoana, New Zealand. Sarkies, however, approaches the material not as exploitation nor as an action picture, but -- like Terrence Malick in his 1973 true crime picture Badlands -- as an understated and detached drama. Sarkies uses a contemplative and reflective approach and a small-town pace and resists gratuitousness, intersecting several tales of casualties and survivors and downplaying the brutal violence. One story involves the contentious relationship between fiftysomething Jim (Timothy Bartlett) and his mother (Lois Lawn); another has a mom, Julia Anne (Tandi Wright) informing her daughter Rewa (Jacinta Wawatai) and her beau's children that they plan to share a house; and in a third, eccentric gun nut David Gray (Matthew Sunderland) cracks and guns down Julia's boyfriend, Gerry (Simon Ferry), in cold blood. These only represent the first three threads in a complex narrative tapestry; the story ultimately gives way to tense hours as the locals, realizing that a predator is on the loose and will kill anyone he can find, barricade their homes and cower in fear. Cinematographer Greig Fraser gives the picture a chilly, wintry aesthetic, rich with whites and blues. The film co-stars Karl Urban; Graeme Tetley co-authored the script with Sarkies. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- Directed By
- Robert Sarkies
- Written By
- Robert Sarkies
- Genres
- Drama
Unrated,
- In Theaters
- Oct 19, 2007 Wide
- Studio
- IFC First Take
Critic Reviews
-
David Fear, Time Out New York
The usual dramatic affectations applied to such true-life material are largely absent; instead, Sarkies focuses on various quotidian elements that take on weight as the inevitable draws closer.
-
V.A. Musetto, New York Post
Sarkies avoids the genre's conventional trappings and prefers instead to concentrate on the ways in which the people of Aramoana deal with the unfolding event.
-
Jack Mathews, New York Daily News
Robert Sarkies' dramatization of that event is as sensitive to its subject as it is stark in its rendering.
-
Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter
Without such thematic resonance, it plays like a more elaborate version of one of the dramatic re-creations seen on any number of true-crime television programs.
-
Matt Zoller Seitz, New York Times
Like Steven Spielberg's historical epics, the film shows the nastiest incidents from a great distance, or cuts away before a bullet's impact to show an onlooker's shocked reaction. The director confronts horror without wallowing in it.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
Featured Audience Ratings
Currently unavailable on Flixster
Also available on
Other Retailers
Not Available
Not Available
Not Available
Subscription Services
Not Available
Not Available
Not Available
Cast
- Karl Urban
-
Matthew Sunderland
as David Gray
- Lois Lawn
-
Simon Ferry
as Gerry
-
Tandi Wright
as Julia Anne
- Paul Glover
- William Kircher
- Georgina Fabish
- Fayth Rasmussen
-
Timothy Bartlett
as Jim
-
Jacinta Wawatai
as Rewa
