|
Point Blank
| Released |
10 June 2011 |
| Director |
Fred Cavayé |
Starring
|
Gilles Lellouche, Roschdy Zem, Gerard Lanvin, Elena Anaya |
Writer(s)
|
Fred Cavayé, Guillaume Lemans |
Producer(s)
|
Cyril Colbeau-Justin, Jean-Baptiste Dupont |
| Origin |
France |
| Running Time |
84 minutes |
| Genre |
Thriller, action, crime |
| Rating |
TBC |
|
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Pressure point.
I frequently wonder how I’d get on if I was flung into various movie situations, from zombie apocalypse to hostage situation. Given the fact that I have the upper body strength of a newly born kitten I suspect I wouldn’t last long in either. This is obviously a game that director Fred Cavayé has played over a few pints with his mates. His Anything for Her (less successfully remade with Russell Crowe as The Next Three Days) saw an ordinary guy attempting to rescue his wrongly imprisoned wife from jail and his new movie Point Blank (no relation to John Boorman’s 1967 film), throws another Ordinary Joe into a very extraordinary situation to see how he fares.
Gilles Lellouche plays trainee nurse Samuel Pierret. Soon to take his exams and become a father for the first time, everything is looking rosy until he foils the murder of one of his patients (Roschdy Zem) while on the night shift. Bad decision; it turns out that said patient is a criminal with some very powerful enemies and Samuel must get him safely out of the hospital and back to his organisation before they kill his pregnant wife. Of course, nothing goes according to plan and Samuel ends up on the run from bad guys on both sides of the law.
So, Point Blank doesn’t represent a huge leap forward for Cavayé in either theme or execution but it has to be said that he does this kind of thing extremely well. With lots of dynamic camera-work and snappy editing, the action set-pieces are exciting and well choreographed. The “everyday hero” element also works to give Point Blank an advantage over the run of the mill thriller. Samuel is a likable hero, who we immediately warm to and though he’s an athletic looking chap and actually acquits himself quite well among the criminal element, we are never allowed to lose empathy with him. Lellouche does an excellent job of keeping Samuel’s morality to the fore despite his desperation.
Point Blank is not a masterpiece of the genre but it is an efficient and effective thriller with enough twists and turns to elevate it above the standard fare. Take the opportunity to see the original now before the inevitable American remake shows up.
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Linda O’Brien |
