Video Capsule: Grosse Pointe Blank (7/10)

[JoBlo]

GROSSE POINTE BLANK (1997)
Director: George Armitage
Starring: John Cusack, Minnie Driver, Dan Aykroyd

This is another one of those movies that didn't necessarily do much for me the first time that I saw it, but seems to have aged quite well. I enjoyed the flick this time around, appreciated the black comedy, especially the dialogue, which was very quick, dry and snippy (not your cookie-cutter humor here), was impressed with the film's ability to balance two extremely different story lines at the same time (a hitman going through his "mid-life" crisis and a dude trying to win his old girlfriend back) and loved the soundtrack!

Yes, the songs in this movie kicked a lot of ass, especially for a bastard child of the 80s like myself. Of course, being that Cusack and his buddies wrote, produced and pretty much starred in this film (here's a game for you...try and guess how many Cusack's show up in the film's end credits?), you didn't expect it to be filled with Duran Duran songs though...as The Clash, the Violent Femmes, The Cure, G&R and many other "cool" bands spray their tunes across this puppy. But they also slapped a few nostalgic babies in there as well during the high school reunion scenes, including one of my all-time "guilty pleasure" favorites: 99 LUFTBALOONS, baby!

But enough about the songs. I also liked much of the interaction between the characters in this film, especially Cusack and his shrink (Arkin) and Cusack and his nemesis, Dan Aykroyd (who wasn't as annoying as he usually is here). You also gotta admire the movie for pulling off some pretty fun shoot-out scenes (and the nod to PULP FICTION was a classy move!), and the one extremely authentic fight sequence between Cusack and one of his enemies. I also think that they did a great job in portraying the extreme akwardness of a high-school reunion. Really well played.

What didn't I like? Well, not much really, but I've never really been a Minnie Driver fan, and I'm not sure if those two government agents were needed really. Also, I too still had some trouble with some of the dialogue because a lot of it seemed to be delivered in a very machine-gun-like fashion...and I didn't "buy" Cusack as a killer early on, but grew to believe it...

But those are all little quirks in a film that doesn't aim for the norm and achieves much of its goal. See it if you're looking for an unusual type of black comedy, if you like John Cusack (and sister Joannie!) and if you love those cool 80s underground tunes. Oh yeah, and the film also provided me with another one of my favorite lines of the year...

"So how's your life?"

"In progress."

[someguy]

Did you know there might be a sequel to this.

[Mike]

I rented this movie on tuesday. I really like John Cusack and I've heard excellent things about it, plus I LOVE LOVE LOVE 80's music. Personally though, the story just doesn't sound that great to me. It just doesn't really interest me. I really hope I like it though. My personal favorite comedy of all time is Romy & Michele's High School Reunion, which is another reunion movie with 80's music, however, the stories are very different, and they each have a completely different tone.

[Sad man]

I didn´t like this movie much. The soundtrack is pretty good.

The song playing at the dance near the end is an argentinian song. Really cool. :cool:

[Anonymooo]

While I personally liked High Fidelity better, Grosse Point Blank ranks up there with great comedies. It's got a fair bit of action in it, too, with the very unlikely John Cusack going JOHN WOO. In a convenience store, no less.

You also get to see retired kickboxing great Benny "the Jet" Urquidez (he's fought Jackie Chan twice, in two of his best movies) as one of the hitmen working against John Cusack. Cool stuff. 7.5/10

[MovieMan75]

Just viewed this for the first time, and I'm glad to hear that the movie gets better on repeated viewings.

That's not to say I didn't like the flick, though. It had such a goofily golden plot (which was initially why I wanted to check it out) that always remained logical and never became too over-the-top. I enjoyed watching Blank's murderous exploits both on the job and surviving in his hometown. John Cusack was great as always, but Minnie Driver didn't really catch my interest at all. Her character definitely wasn't fully developed. I also didn't buy into their relationship, which was supposed to be real love, but I didn't get it.

But I did find the movie to be quite funny, with both soft wittiness and black humor. Even the action sequences weren't half bad. And like High Fidelity, the film had a good supporting cast. (I especially enjoyed Dan Aykroyd and Hank Azaria.)

I guess, in the end, though, I was expecting a top-notch screenplay like High Fidelity's, and while I didn't get one of that quality, I was still entertained with sharp dialogue. I don't regret the ten bucks I spent on the DVD. Oh, and let's not forget the really cool soundtrack! I'll have the Violent Femmes stuck in my head all week, now. :)

My Rating: 7/10, B-