The Blackout

Abel Ferrara's gift for getting actors to dredge up the ugliest muck in their souls and bare it onscreen is used to strong effect in this psychological thriller. Self-loathing Matty (Matthew Modine), a hotshot Hollywood actor, is on a drug- and booze-fueled collision course with his inner demons. In Miami Beach to make up with his French girlfriend, Annie (Beatrice Dalle), he finds her making a chaotic, improvisational film called "Nana in Miami" for whacked-out director Mickey (Dennis Hopper). Set in a strip club, "Nana" is being shot on digital video ("It's the future, man," Mickey prophesies) and incorporates the cast and crew's off-screen lives. Matty's impulsive...