- Can a film's director be considered an unreliable narrator? Brian De Palma attempts exactly this feat with Blow Out by having the audience see and hear things that are never quite what they seem. From its opening sequence, you might be expecting a Roger Corman-esque splatterfest until a cheesy scream ruins the effect. Halfway through the film, a woman is killed who bears a striking resemblance to the lead actress...but is not her. Near the end, the hero initially appears to save the day, but doesn't quite pull it off. To quote the Marx Brothers, "Who you gonna believe, me or your lying eyes?"
- If it's any consolation, the film's characters are even less aware of their circumstances than the audience is. Movie sound technician Jack Terry (John Travolta) knows that he rescued a drowning woman from a car that careened into a lake, but it takes him a while to figure out that the car's deceased driver was the governor and that it may have been murder. Sally (Nancy Allen), the woman Jack saved, knows that she was setting up the governor for a blackmail scam, but hardly imagines that her scummy associate Manny (Dennis Franz) would intentionally have her killed. In the meantime, there's this strange interloper named Burke (John Lithgow) who may have been paid to take care of the governor and may also be trying to kill Sally. Burke may not be completely sane, but he's pretty darn dedicated to his job.
- Although Blow Out may not be quite as good as Blow-Up, The Conversation, or any of several Hitchcock films that it unabashedly references, the film gets a lot of credit for having so much fun toying with its audience. Having Jack employ his skills as a trained "earwitness" to navigate a noisy subway system and loud parade is darkly funny, especially considering how badly his previous sound-based crimefighting adventure went. Equally amusing are the film's many self-aware characterizations: Sally is literally an actress, Manny practices his lines, Burke and the detective (John Aquino) are walking archetypes. The film's best moments arrive at its end with some really brilliant fireworks and a perfectly captured scream. Maybe not a great note to go out on, but it's certainly a memorable one.
- The wet microphone plot point was used again in Twin Peaks.
