There is no doubt what writer-director Neil LaBute is going for in his latest film, ‘Out of the Blue’, featuring Ray Nicholson and Diane Kruger in lead roles. It is an intended and quite transparent attempt at a genuine ode towards film noirs. LaBute experiments with many facets of film noir and its derivative neo-noir. As a result, ‘Out of the Blue’ gets a bit torn between the classic and the neo version of noirs. With its characters and technique being that of neo-noir, but dialogues and the presence of intertitles carrying the spirit of the 30s and 40s classic noirs, the film becomes a little disjointed and odd watch.

Having said that, LaBute still manages to hit the right spots in producing a basic noir film. It is not novel, but it is not without its merit either. And if you can get accustomed to its eccentric tone, then it is not entirely unwatchable.

Connor Bates (Ray Nicholson) lives in the basement of his mother’s house in a small American coastal town. He works in the local library, which, by his own admission, is the only place that would have him due to his record. Connor has been in the prison for three years on an assault charge. Apart from the times he spends guiding people through the alleys among library bookshelves and getting berated by his probation officer (Hank Azaria) for tardiness, he spends a lot of time of jogging around the coast.

That is how he meets Marilyn (Diane Kruger). The femme fatale of the story. Her scarlet swimsuit-clad appearance in the otherwise deserted beach catches the eye of the intruding Connor. Introduction happens and flirty exchanges are exchanged. The connection between Marilyn and Connor is immediate. Marilyn is married to a wealthy businessman and she has a stepdaughter, Astrid (Chase Sui Wonders).

In the many subsequent rendezvouses between them, Marilyn gradually confides in Connor. Her husband beats her and is also abusive towards his own daughter. The rendezvous not only brings both of them closer emotionally but also physically. Carnal desires run higher and higher in each of those meets. Meanwhile, a colleague at the Library named Kim (Gia Krovatin) also seems to like Connor. Kim tells Connor that Astrid is dating the known local playboy, Jared.

With time, the affair between Marilyn and Connor gets stronger and Connor starts to feel protective of Marilyn. And so grows the desire within Connor. The desire to rescue Marilyn and Astrid from the grip of their tormentor. In the face of the possibility of the end of his relationship with Marilyn, Connor offers to take matters into his own hands. He tells Marilyn that he would kill the husband.

So, they start to hatch a plan on that. Marilyn would take Astrid and go away for a trip. Then, Connor would go to their house, find the husband, and then would kill him. Connor does the first two tasks. The final task of the killing does not go as smoothly as he has hoped for.

Like mentioned above, “Out of the Blue” is an homage to the genre of film noir and its derivatives. Especially the works based on James M. Cain novels. To be even more specific, “The Postman Always Rings Twice”. The novel is namedropped quite a number of times by our leads. In the vein of being meta, the characters are even aware of the similarities. And of course the presence of Ray Nicholson as the lead actor, when his father, the legendary Jack Nicholson, starred in the 1981 adaptation of the same novel.

The story, written by LaBute, would be familiar to noir buffs. There is nothing particularly new, but novelty is rare anyway. LaBute, to his credit, builds the tension credibly. Even with the climactic twist being quite foreseeable, the process to reach there has just about the right amount of intrigue. The experiment with intertitles might throw some viewers off with its clunky execution. But, for me, it was not that bothersome. On the contrary, it does invoke an undercutting of seriousness, which somehow mingles quite well with the experimental tone of the film.

Ray Nicholson and Diane Kruger are the heart of this film. They needed to be, as the chemistry between them is the driving force of the story. Kruger plays the quintessential femme fatale, and she is perfect; well complemented by Nicholson’s machismo and earnest naivete. Hank Azaria as the probation officer turned a fine cameo performance as well.

Connor struggles to kill the husband and in the scuffle, the husband gets the upper hand as he gets the gun. Just when he was about to pull the trigger and end Connor’s life, another intruder hits him on the head and instantly kills him. This intruder reveals to be Jared, Astrid’s boyfriend. Jared says that he came here to burgle and it is a coincidence that Connor and he chose the same night for their respective crimes. However, Connor does not quite believe that and kills him.

After the assassination, Connor gets a call from Marilyn a couple of days later. He confronts her as he thinks that Marilyn and Astrid have sent their respective boyfriends for the same job, or there was something that Marilyn did not tell him. Marilyn denies that.

A few more days passed by and Connor finally gets the predetermined message that indicates Marilyn wants to meet him. However, the moment Connor steps out, he gets surrounded by police and his probation officer. A chase ensues and Connor gets cornered in the spot where Marilyn was supposed to come. Despite his probation officer’s best efforts, the local law enforcement officer shoots Connor misreading Connor’s movement of reaching to his pockets for his phone. Connor dies with the vision of Marilyn in her red swimsuit, the one she wore when Connor saw her first time.

Yes. The end scene reveals Marilyn actually wanted Connor to do the killing from the beginning. She even stole one of Connor’s keychains and planted it in her house. For the police to find it later. Add to that the police knowing Connor and Marilyn’s secret spots and an anonymous tip-off from a woman. Connor was played from the beginning.

It was also revealed, by a quite passionate kiss between them, that Marilyn and Astrid are in a relationship. And not of a mother-step daughter kind. However, the film does tantalize the possibility even that relationship could be a trap by Marilyn. Marilyn says a similar line to Astrid as she did to Connor. The line about water being colder than it looked. That does sound like a premonition.

Marilyn would get the vast wealth of her husband if Astrid dies. So, it is quite fair to assume that Astrid is also on the line of getting the same sticky end as that of Connor.

Middle of Nowhere, Nadir of Hope; Top of exertion.

1990s 2000s 2010s 2011 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2020s 2021 2022 Academy Awards Action Adam Driver Adventure Animation Anurag Kashyap Apple TV+ Bengali Biography Black Comedy Brad Pitt Cannes Casey Affleck Cate Blanchett Certificate: PG-13 Certificate: R Certificate: TV-14 Certificate: TV-MA China Christopher Nolan Color Comedy Coming of Age Crime Disney+ Hotstar Documentary Drama English Ethan Hawke Family Fantasia Fantasy France French German Germany HBO HBO Max Hindi History Hollywood Horror Hulu India Italian Japan Japanese Korean Leonardo DiCaprio Malayalam MAMI Martin Scorsese MUBI Music Mystery Netflix Netflix Original New York Asian Film Festival NYAFF Oscars OTT Paul Dano Paul Thomas Anderson Prime Video Quentin Tarantino Romance Rooney Mara Satire Sci-Fi Short Film South Korea Spanish Streaming Sundance Sundance Film Festival Tamil Thriller TIFF Trailer TV Mini Series TV Series UK USA War Western