The true story of New Zealand resident David Gray, who snaps one day and starts shooting his neighbors, leading to an intense night-long standoff.

CRITIQUE

Out of the Blue tells the harrowing true-life story of what happened on November 13, 1990, in the seaside New Zealand town of Aramoana, when a man named David Gray snapped and started shooting his neighbors.  The resulting film is a little uneven, with its realism is hard to watch at times; still, when it is good it is very good, and ultimately there is enough here to make it worth seeking out by people who like this kind of thing.

The first half hour here starts a bit slow, as director Robert Sarkies takes his time setting things up; he intercuts shots of the town and its residents going on with their lives, with scenes showing the increasingly-agitated, mentally-unbalanced Gray finally lose it, first in a bank when he is charged an unexpected fee, then more violently in his home after an altercation with a neighbor.

But once the shooting starts, things really rev up here.  Sarkies uses a handheld camera to really give this a visceral, you-are-there feel, and does a nice job capturing the confusion of those nearby hearing the shots, and then the horror as they realized what was happening.  Literally anyone can die at any time here, and the terribleness leads to some truly nightmarish moments. 

Then things settle down into a standoff as night falls, when Sarkies really does some good work; many scenes are told from the point-of-view of under-equipped, under-trained cops trying to deal with a situation that have little control over, and a shooter who is able to easily blend in with the night.  Actor Matt Sunderland does a good job bringing a little eerie shading to Gray, though the work by the largely-unknown cast is very convincing throughout.

Ironically, if this were fictional, there would have been the opportunity to really take it in some interesting directions; here the filmmakers need to stick to what happened, which limits them somewhat.  Still, as a true crime tale there is a lot here that works, and there were times here when I was literally on the edge of my seat.  Not for all tastes, but worth a look.

THE VIDEO

Out of the Blue is presented in widescreen.  The picture quality is solid throughout, both is the daylight scenes and in the shadowy nighttime.

THE AUDIO

Out of the Blue is presented in English 5.1 Dolby Digital.  Dialogue, music and sound effects come through clear.  There are English and Spanish subtitles.

THE EXTRAS

There is a Commentary by Sarkies and Bill O’Brien, a former cop who worked the case, and who wrote the non-fiction book that the film is based on.  They have a good conversational feel to their commentary here, which works very well.

There is a 7-minute Making Of featurette that is a fairly standard look behind the scenes.

Out of the Blue: The Tragedy is a 7-minute piece that talks about that day, as well as including some news footage.

Honoring Anamoana is a 6-minute piece in which the filmmakers talk about how important it was to respect the townspeople, including allowing them to have input on the screenplay.

There is a 6-minute Photo Gallery, set to music, of pictures from the town, of Gray’s house, and of the construction of the recreation of it.

Recollections From The Actors is a 3-minute piece, in which some of the actors from the film remember their reactions to hearing about what happened that day.

There is also a Trailer for the film.

FINAL THOUGHT

Out of the Blue is a little uneven, but there are some riveting sequences that make it worth a look.