Blackbird
Official Poster
Directed byMichael Flatley
Screenplay byMichael Flatley
Produced byMichael Flatley
StarringMichael Flatley
Eric Roberts
Patrick Bergin
Ian Beattie
CinematographyLuke Palmer
Edited byWeronika Kamińska
Music byOwen Brady
Production
companies
Dance Lord Productions
West One Entertainment
Egg Studios
Five Knight Films Limited
Parachute Film Studios
Release date
  • September 28, 2018 (2018-09-28) (Raindance)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Blackbird is a 2018 spy film directed, produced, written by and starring Michael Flatley.[1][2] With a release delayed for several years, Blackbird was dismissed as a vanity project by the entertainment press, Brian Lloyd of entertainment.ie comparing Flatley to Tommy Wiseau of The Room infamy.[3][4]

Plot

The secret agent "Blackbird" retires and opens a nightclub in the Caribbean to escape his past. A former lover comes to meet him, but brings trouble with her.

Cast

Production

Filming took place in County Cork, London and Barbados. It was largely financed by Flatley himself.[5]

Release

The first screening was a June 2018 private showing for cast and crew at the Stella Cinema, Rathmines, Dublin; Blackbird was shown at The May Fair Hotel, London as part of the Raindance Film Festival on 28 September 2018.[6][7][8]

In 2018, Flatley claimed to be in pre-production for Blackbird 2.[9] However, there was little news on a general release of Blackbird, fuelling speculation about the film's quality. In 2019, Brian Lloyd of entertainment.ie wrote a lengthy investigation of the film, finding out that "over 200 people attended the screening of 'Blackbird', and so far as can be reasonably determined, none of them were journalists or critics. When asked if perhaps the jury of Raindance Film Festival may have seen 'Blackbird', [David Martinez, a festival producer with Raindance] says this did not take place."[3]

A general release of the film to Irish cinemas had been announced for September 2, 2022.[10] The film premiered August 2022 in the Light House Cinema in Dublin.[11]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 22% based on 9 reviews, with an average rating of 2.00 out of 10.[12] Film critic Mark Kermode said the film was “one of the worst films I’ve ever seen”. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film one out of five stars, lambasting the writing and directing, remarking, 'In a way, it is amazing that Flatley is able to fulfil a 12-year-old boy’s fantasy of being a secret agent, with a 12-year-old’s idea of what a secret agent actually does. The acting and writing are like the non-sexy bits that come between the sexy bits in a porn film made in 1985.'.[13] Ed Power in The Telegraph also gave it one out of five stars, dubbing it 'unintentionally hilarious.'[14] Empire's Ian Freer opined, 'By far the best performance in the film is by Flatley’s seemingly endless collection of hats, the jaunty angle of a trilby suggesting more emotion than the actor ever does'.[15]

References

  1. ↑ Heritage, Stuart (6 July 2018). "Michael Flatley's self-financed spy thriller: what you need to know" – via www.theguardian.com.
  2. ↑ "Michael Flatley on Why His Self-Financed Directorial Debut 'Blackbird' Isn't a Vanity Project". The Hollywood Reporter.
  3. 1 2 Lloyd, Brian. "The mystery of Michael Flatley's directorial debut, 'Blackbird'". Entertainment.ie.
  4. ↑ Flynn, Roddy; Tracy, Tony (9 August 2019). Historical Dictionary of Irish Cinema. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9781538119587 – via Google Books.
  5. ↑ "Michael Flatley wraps shooting for Blackbird". Cineuropa - the best of european cinema.
  6. ↑ Clarke, Donald. "Why is Michael Flatley's spy movie getting so much flak?". The Irish Times.
  7. ↑ "Blackbird to Premiere at Raindance Film Festival in London | The Irish Film & Television Network". www.iftn.ie.
  8. ↑ "Michael Flatley's new movie Blackbird to have world premiere in London this week". IrishCentral.com. 27 September 2018.
  9. ↑ Beresford, Jack. "Michael Flatley on Blackbird, sequel plans and why he's making movies now". The Irish Post.
  10. ↑ "Trailer launched for Michael Flatley flick Blackbird". RTE.
  11. ↑ "'You can't listen to the naysayers': Michael Flatley in flying form at premiere of debut film". The Irish Times. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  12. ↑ "Blackbird". Rotten Tomatoes.
  13. ↑ "Blackbird review – Michael Flatley's fabulously bad spy tale is a classic of egosploitation cinema". TheGuardian.com. 31 August 2022.
  14. ↑ "Blackbird, review: I am the Lord of the Awful 007 Rip-Off, says he". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 13 October 2022.
  15. ↑ "Blackbird". Empire. 21 September 2022.
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