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Grosse Pointe Blank
John Cusack scores a direct bullseye as the star and co-screenwriter of Grosse Pointe Blank, a bloody black comedy that sizzles for its entire running time due to a razor sharp screenplay you can cut your finger on and terrific performances.
Cusack plays Martin Blank, a hitman who is approached by a fellow hitman named the Grocer (Dan Aykroyd) to incorporate and when Blank refuses, tails Blank to his next assignment in Detroit in order to take him out while Blank decides to visit neighboring Grosse Pointe Michigan for his ten year high school reunion. Blank is reunited almost immediately with his high school obsession, Debi Newberry (Minnie Driver).
The screenplay of this movie is based on a fantastic premise that plays out just about every one of its possibilities. What is a hitman supposed to talk about at his ten year high school reunion? And how do you rekindle a romance with a woman without telling her what you're doing now, the backbone of most reunion socialization. And how do you do your job and keep the woman you allegedly love out of danger without looping her in on what you do?
I loved the fact that Blank has issues with what he does, evidenced in his seeing a therapist, a therapist who really doesn't want to treat Martin because Martin didn't tell him what his occupation was until their 4th session and he feels that treating Martin is putting himself in danger. Loved when Martin jokingly tells the doctor that if they don't continue working together that he knows where he lives or when the doctor starts to pick up the phone and, realizing it's Martin, drops the receiver like it's a boiling pot on the stove. The relationship between Martin and Debi rings completely true and I loved the fact that the reunion was established as one of the most boring events ever, Also loved the exploding convenience store and the clerk's reaction to it, not to mention the disposal of a body at the reunion, which we think is a precursor to the end, but it's not even close. The relationship between Martin and his assistant, Marcella (Joan Cusack) was also a lot of fun, though I seriously doubt they were brother and sister as they are IRL.
Director George Armitage (Miami Blues) not only proves to be adept at the action sequence, but blending in the black comedy and the action film to perfect effect. Cusack's slick, smart-ass title character was perfection and though Aykroyd seemed a little old and out of shape to be playing a hitman, he made it work. Driver almost buries her English accent and Hank Azaria, Mitchell Ryan, Jeremy Piven, and K Todd Freeman also offer strong support. The late Alan Arkin stole every scene he had with Cusack as his psychiatrist and Barbara Harris makes the most of a thankless cameo as Martin's hospitalized mother. And if you don't blink, you'll also catch Cusack's other sister, Ann, in a small role. Movies like Get Shorty and the HBO series Barry owe a lot to Grosse Pointe Blank.
John Cusack scores a direct bullseye as the star and co-screenwriter of Grosse Pointe Blank, a bloody black comedy that sizzles for its entire running time due to a razor sharp screenplay you can cut your finger on and terrific performances.
Cusack plays Martin Blank, a hitman who is approached by a fellow hitman named the Grocer (Dan Aykroyd) to incorporate and when Blank refuses, tails Blank to his next assignment in Detroit in order to take him out while Blank decides to visit neighboring Grosse Pointe Michigan for his ten year high school reunion. Blank is reunited almost immediately with his high school obsession, Debi Newberry (Minnie Driver).
The screenplay of this movie is based on a fantastic premise that plays out just about every one of its possibilities. What is a hitman supposed to talk about at his ten year high school reunion? And how do you rekindle a romance with a woman without telling her what you're doing now, the backbone of most reunion socialization. And how do you do your job and keep the woman you allegedly love out of danger without looping her in on what you do?
I loved the fact that Blank has issues with what he does, evidenced in his seeing a therapist, a therapist who really doesn't want to treat Martin because Martin didn't tell him what his occupation was until their 4th session and he feels that treating Martin is putting himself in danger. Loved when Martin jokingly tells the doctor that if they don't continue working together that he knows where he lives or when the doctor starts to pick up the phone and, realizing it's Martin, drops the receiver like it's a boiling pot on the stove. The relationship between Martin and Debi rings completely true and I loved the fact that the reunion was established as one of the most boring events ever, Also loved the exploding convenience store and the clerk's reaction to it, not to mention the disposal of a body at the reunion, which we think is a precursor to the end, but it's not even close. The relationship between Martin and his assistant, Marcella (Joan Cusack) was also a lot of fun, though I seriously doubt they were brother and sister as they are IRL.
Director George Armitage (Miami Blues) not only proves to be adept at the action sequence, but blending in the black comedy and the action film to perfect effect. Cusack's slick, smart-ass title character was perfection and though Aykroyd seemed a little old and out of shape to be playing a hitman, he made it work. Driver almost buries her English accent and Hank Azaria, Mitchell Ryan, Jeremy Piven, and K Todd Freeman also offer strong support. The late Alan Arkin stole every scene he had with Cusack as his psychiatrist and Barbara Harris makes the most of a thankless cameo as Martin's hospitalized mother. And if you don't blink, you'll also catch Cusack's other sister, Ann, in a small role. Movies like Get Shorty and the HBO series Barry owe a lot to Grosse Pointe Blank.