Bullet Points: Black Rock
Sometimes it is good to go back to a particular genre of films to see how the filmmakers tackled a familiar story. I was thinking of action thrillers with a survival bent the other day and it reminded me of when I first saw the 2012 movie Black Rock. I knew I had to see it again to find if it was successful in being a thriller or if it was just another in a long line of similar movies. I know how I feel and luckily for you I just happen to have some Bullet Points for Black Rock to help you decide.
- Ebony Pebble – Three childhood friends, Abby, Lou, and Sarah, plan on a camping trip to an uninhabited Maine island. Of course, Abby (Katie Aselton) and Lou (Lake Bell) both think they are only going with Sarah (Kate Bosworth) and little do they know that Sarah has concocted a ruse to bring the friends back together after a rift between Abby and Lou. Abby and Lou are not up for the new plans until Sarah drops the old fake dying of cancer story on them to get them to stay. Nobody told me Black Rock was a comedy.
- Raven Boulder– The trio used to go to the island as youngsters and now on their return go searching for a long buried time capsule. Or in other words, they go on an exposition march as we learn all about Lou sleeping with Abby’s boyfriend… salacious! We soon find the ladies are not the only ones on the island as they come across some hunters on the island. As a surprise to know one they know one of the hunters as Henry, the younger brother of a former classmate of the ladies, and he is joined with his friends Derek and Alex. Abby invites them to join the party and proceeds to get too drunk and throw herself all over Henry. Henry, being a man in a movie, doesn’t understand when a woman says no she means no after Abby realizes things are going too far and attempts to assault her. Abby summarily whacks him on the head with a rock… a black rock?!?!
- Midnight Stone – Henry is dead and Derek and Alex are pissed. Henry saved their lives when they were in the Army, although it wasn’t a sanctioned mission and they were dishonorably discharged, and are looking for revenge. The action in Black Rock just picked up. The men quickly tie up the ladies, but after some goading agree to a one on one fight instead of involving the authorities… that makes sense. The ladies use this opportunity to escape, I guess that one on one fight didn’t make sense. The women get split up, but Sarah’s plan works as Abby and Lou are together and make up. Of course Sarah gets killed so her plan wasn’t perfect. Don’t joke about having cancer, people.
- Onyx Cobble – The childhood knowledge of the island and the shroud of nightfall give the ladies an advantage as the hunt is on. However, anyone with knowledge of islands in general knows that they are surrounded by water and that must be crossed to get off. The hunters may not be as familiar with the particular island, but their general island knowledge means they have released the ladies’ tied up boat. Abby and Lou try to swim for the boat but the water is too cold. Back on land, the only thing they can do is shed their wet clothes and enter the naked and afraid (and wet and shivering) portion of Black Rock. A little shivering and slapping sets the women on an offensive attack and wouldn’t you know it, but that time capsule they were talking about at the beginning may be useful.
Black Rock takes a surprisingly gruesome turn during the final act. As I spoiled, all three women and all three men don’t make it off the island alive. What about the other four? No more spoilers, but not all of them will make it either. So is Black Rock an effective action thriller? I was entertained, but a lot of that has to do with my favorite thing about Black Rock, its 80 minute runtime! No time to get bored! The characters are pretty stupid and cliched, but the actors make up for the characters incompetency, especially the three leading ladies. In the end it is up to you if you find Black Rock successful, but you will definitely find some Black Rock Bonus Bullet Points now.
- Multi-Hyphenate – Not only did Katie Aselton star as Lou but she was also the director and wrote the story. Katie’s husband Mark Duplass wrote the screenplay.
- Misunderstood Quote – “We got crabs!”
- Favorite Tree – The one that looks like Abby taking a dump.
- Soundtrack – In an almost spot on band name, The Kills provide some very appropriate songs for Black Rock.
