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Friday, August 5, 2011
MOVIE REVIEW
Point Blank (À Bout Portant)
Catch Him If You Can, And Don't Dare Hurt That Baby
Gilles Lellouche as Pierret in Fred Cavayé's crime drama "Point Blank".
Magnolia Pictures
by
Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com
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Friday,
August 5, 2011
At the start we are body-slammed into the middle of "Point Blank", a lean, mean
adrenaline-fueled crime thriller directed by Fred Cavayé. Someone's
chasing. And someone's running. Then we're walloped into another
sequence. In "Point Blank" everything gets abruptly and rudely interrupted
by something else. (Also known as "À Bout Portant", this French drama is making its way around the U.S. in
select cities.)
Samuel Pierret (Gilles Lellouche) is a nurse, or, as he says, a nurse's aide. His
wife Nadia (Elena Anaya) is almost eight months pregnant. A doctor tells
Nadia to
stay on her back for seven more weeks. She doesn't want to. Soon
after Samuel
saves the life of a fugitive named Sartet (Roschdy Zem). For Samuel's efforts
Nadia becomes a bargaining
chip. Samuel becomes an action man. Partnerships form. Unholy
alliances and betrayals arise in the unlikeliest places. The police have
agendas that ensnare Samuel, whose only agenda is to protect his wife and their
unborn child.
Propulsive, tense and comedic, "Point Blank" has a good deal of Hitchcock going
for it. Things may get preposterous, crazy and hard to believe but Mr.
Cavayé's film never wavers from its blunt-force styling. I loved almost
every minute of this crime-thriller, with all its surprises, twists and turns.
Energetic, brutal and brisk, "Point Blank" never stops moving. Its
propulsive beat is infectious. You can't help admiring the film's
relentlessness and razor-edged tension. "Point Blank" grabs you, holds
onto you and shakes you up, and it's one heck of a riveting ride. If
you were a fan of Pierre Morel's
"Taken", you will love this thriller, whose
engine runs on a sharp script by Mr. Cavayé and Guillaume Lemans.
"Point Blank", as its title suggests, happens up close. We don't breathe
comfortably as we watch. Tension percolates. Suspense prolongs.
There's a thrill a minute. Chases. Crashes. Corruption.
The film's actors neither romanticize their characters nor justify their
motives. The characters have the utmost conviction in purpose and action.
The world they inhabit is cynical, hellish and uncertain. Trapped, they
are forced to make efficient use of borrowed time, as does "Point Blank", which
clocks in at 85 minutes. Information is conveyed quickly and urgently, and
"Point Blank" is pointed enough to zero in on the essentials like a laser.
The film is often as bloody as it is bold.
Navigating the sharp edges of Mr. Cavayé's film is the television news media and
its shaping of crime. The director shows the news media as a refutation of
its reporting of crime though doesn't necessarily indict it. In "Point
Blank" however, the devil is always in the details. The reveals are
particularly clever, as is the screenplay. This sleek, cold-hearted
thriller has a strong sense of adventure and fearlessness making it fierce and
unrelenting. Its warmest bookend feels like cozy, soothing domesticity,
and after the ringer
we're put through it's gratifying, and welcomed.
With: Gérard Lanvin, Mirelle
Perrier, Claire Perot, Pierre Benoist, Valérie Dashwood, Moussa Maaskri, Adel
Bencherif, Virgile Bramly, Nicky Naude.
"Point Blank" (À
Bout Portant) is rated R by the Motion Picture
Association Of America for strong violence and some language. In French language with English subtitles. The
film's running time is one hour and 25 minutes.
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