Out of the Blue (2006) NR - 2½ Stars

I feel this drama should have been filmed more as a documentary than a feature film. The first 20 minutes of the movie made no sense, didn't get me involved in the characters or their connection to each other and really I found it somewhat confusing. I guess that was the point showing this group of ordinary characters just going about their daily business when a gun collector goes wild in their small town of Aramoana, New Zealand on November 13th and 14th, 1990. The police force of this tiny town were not equipped to handle anything of this magnitude and it was up to the courage of a handful of isolated neighbors that helped out where ever they could, mostly barricading themselves in their homes as the gunman took his rampage directly to their homes.

David Gray (Matthew Sunderland), was a quiet unemployed gun collector who's life snapped one day. He'd been cashing his welfare checks at the local bank making new checks out payable to the local gun store as he'd been stock piling an arsenal of weapons. On the morning of November 13th, out of the blue without warning, Gray lost it when Gerry (Simon Ferry), his neighbor asked him not to yell at the children. He opened fire on Gerry with his automatic rifle, striking Gerry dead. Gray then went after the children, setting their home a blaze and only Rewa (Jacinta Wawatai), managed to escape after enduring a gun shot to her abdomen. Gray held up around the vicinity of his home, shooting at anyone who came near to help put the fire out. When Rewa ran to her mother's Julia Anne (Tandi Wright), home there was nothing she could do for her new husband to be. Farther down the street Jim (Timothy Bartlett) and his mother (Lois Lawn), co habitat along with Jim's dog, Patch. Jim never comes back from a walk and mom goes looking for him only to be shot at herself, now having to crawl to safety and recovering Patch who'd taken a bullet. By the end of his killing spree, 13 people would loose their lives in this senseless killing massacre.

IFC Films
Directors: Robert Sarkies, Steven Sarkies
Writers: Robert Sarkies, Steven Sarkies, Graham Tetley
Producers: Timothy White, Steven O'Meagher

I viewed 8/09