Production Year: 1997 - Comedy - Director: George Armitage - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Duffy Taylor, Wendy Thorlakson, Benny 'The Jet' Urquidez, John Cusack, Minnie Driver, Dan Aykroyd, Alan Arkin, Joan Cusack, Barbara Harris, Mitchell Ryan, Hank Azaria, K. Todd Freeman, Jeremy Piven, Jenna Elfman, Bill Cusack, Ann Cusack, Pete Antico, Michael Cudlitz, Brent Armitage, David Barrett, Bobby Bass, Laurence Bilzerian, D.V. DeVincentis, Sarah DeVincentis, Doug Dearth, K.K. Dodds, Traci Dority, Colby French, Lance Gilbert, Carlos Jacott, Audrey Kissel, Belita Moreno, Pat O'Neill, Steve Pink, Brian Powell, Eva Rodriguez, Jackie Rubin more
A nihilistically philosophical hit man (John Cusack) reluctantly accepts an assignment in Detroit, coinciding with his 10-year high school reunion in the ritzy suburb of Grosse... more
actually. He's attending his high school reunion on an assignment; he's got a rival hit man (Dan Aykroyd) on his tail; and he's going to have to explain to his old girlfr...
actually. He's attending his high school reunion on an assignment; he's got a rival hit man (Dan Aykroyd) on his tail; and he's going to have to explain to his old girlfr...
Grosse Pointe Blank DVD
Grosse Pointe Blank is the witty dark comedy starring John Cusack that's being hailed by ... more
both critics and audiences for its outlandish plot and irreverent humour! Unlike his High School friends who become respected professionals Martin Blank (Cusack...
Grosse Pointe Blank
Grosse Pointe Blank is the witty, dark comedy starring John Cusack (Con Air; The Grifters) ... more
thats being hailed by both critics and audiences for its outlandish plot and irreverent humour!Unlike his High School friends, who became respected professionals, Martin Blank (Cusack) found a lucrative career as a hit man. But the job has lost its appeal and Martin faces an uncertain future.Now he finds himself back in his home town of Grosse Pointe to attend his ten-year High School reunion, complete one last job and take another shot at rekindling a romance with a girl he gave up on prom night (Minnie Driver - Sleepers).With Dan Akroyd as a hilarious rival assassin who wants Martin to join a union, Grosse Pointe Blank is a killer comedy loaded with action and laughs.
Comedy - Director: Richard Boden, Mandie Fletcher, Martin Shardlow - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Hugh Laurie, Miranda Richardson, Stephen Fry, Brian Blessed, Tim McInnerny, Tony Robinson, Rowan Atkinson
Production Year: 2004 - Comedy - Director: John Hay - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Jennifer Love Hewitt, Jimi Mistry, Kate Miles, Dougray Scott
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A review by christianfilmcritic on Grosse Pointe Blank (DVD) March 17th, 2006
Author's product rating:
Did you enjoy it?
Liked it
Story
Satisfactory
Characters / Performances
Satisfactory
Special Effects
Standard
How does it compare to similar films?
Satisfactory
Advantages:
John and Joan Cusack
Disadvantages:
Spreads itself too thinly between genres
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
After 5 years as a successful paid hit man, Martin Blank is starting to doubt the nobility of his chosen profession. Even his psychiatrist doesn't want to treat him, as he fears that anything he says, that challenges Martin's morals, will result in him staring down the barrel of a gun. On top of this, he still has unresolved feelings for his childhood sweetheart, Debi Newberry, who he mysteriously walked out on the night of the High School Prom.
After bungling one of his jobs, Martin is forced into taking a job in Grosse Pointe, Detroit, his home town. This coincides with his high school reunion, which he has been deliberating about going too, as he will have to face up to his emotions. After some less than gentle persuasion by his office manager, Marcella, Martin finds himself back in his home town. Now, not only having to explain to all his old friends where he has been for the past 10 years, but he also has to deal with his emotions towards Debi. Plus he also finds himself being the focus of another assassin, Grocer and his CIA buddies.
Although I like Grosse Pointe Blank, it confuses me as too what it is meant to be. Labeled as an action, romance, comedy, crime-thriller, it struggles to be overly effective in any one of them, and feels as if it spreads itself a little bit thin amongst all of them. There are some very good action sequences which focus around killing people, the romance comes from the unresolved feelings that Martin has for Debi. The comedy is not your typical laugh out loud humour, but much darker and there are a couple of decent twists which makes the story line interesting. But in my opinion, all of these factors only add up to about 50% of the film and for the rest of the time the film seems to ramble on.
The plot to the film although enjoyable is a bit predictable, as you have a pretty standard romance story which you can guess how it will end up. But also the much used, man dealing with his conscious to work out what is right or wrong for him. Where the plot does become interesting is the unexpected twists which did take me by surprise. On top of this, the action sequences which mainly revolve around killing people, are very cleverly thought out and are a change to the usual no brainer action, which has become the mainstay of Hollywood action movies.
The saving grace of this film is John Cusack (Runaway Jury) as Martin Q. Blank and without him; this film would not be anywhere near as enjoyable as it is. Although not an outlandish comedy actor, Cusack manages to deliver humorous lines in such a dead pan manner that even the absurd things make you laugh. Opposite Cusack is Minnie Driver (Sleepers) as his love interest, although the film tries to explore the relationship, it never seems to concentrate on it enough and sadly makes Driver's performance a bit lack luster. One of the highlights of the film is that of the character Marcella, played by John's real life sister, Joan Cusack (School of Rock). Her portrayal of the nagging office manager is hilarious as she manipulates Martin into going to the school reunion. Along with this you have good performances from Dan Aykroyd, Alan Arkin, Hank Azaria and Jeremy Piven who all work perfectly alongside John Cusack.
The film is directed by George Armitage and although it is enjoyable, I feel he could have done a better job if he had concentrated on making this film a master of one of its genres. As it is, the film is spread out too thinly and so looses your attention as frequently as it looses its focus. The soundtrack to the film is as widespread as its genres, with brilliant heavy pieces such as "Live and Let Die" by Guns 'n' Roses, and lighter pieces such as "Walk Like an Egyptian" by The Bangles and "Take On ME" by a-ha.= The Cast =======John Cusack .... Martin Q. Blank Minnie Driver .... Debi Newberry Joan Cusack .... Marcella Dan Aykroyd .... Grocer Alan Arkin .... Dr. Oatman Jeremy Piven .... Paul Spericki Hank Azaria .... Steven Lardner K. Todd Freeman .... Kenneth McCullers Mitch Ryan .... Mr. Bart Newberry======= Technical Details =============Certificate: 15 Length: 107 mins Originally released: 1997======= Bonus Material =============As I find with many older films, there always seems to be a distinct lack of special features, as is the case with Grosse Pointe Blank, as it has none. What is good about this DVD, is that the picture quality and the audio is vastly improved compared to the original release on video. There is hardly any graininess to the picture and the sounds when plugged through a surround system is brilliant, with very clear dialogue and great audio effects. ======================= The Message & Christian View Point =============================Again, although I like this film, I find myself struggling with the message it is putting across. We are expected to route for a hit man, because he is having a moral dilemma over his choice of profession. This would be okay with me, if he showed remorse for the murders that he has committed and denounced killing people for money as being wrong. But he doesn't and even states that he has no issues with killing people. Although this film is basically a comedy, I still have to question the choice of characters that we are expected to be supporting in this film.========== Conclusion & Rating ================Grosse Pointe Blank is one of those films which is good, but could have been so much better. The plot although mainly predictable does have a couple of enjoyable twists to add a little bit of spice. The most impressive thing about this film is John Cusack; his performance is without doubt, the main reason why this film is so enjoyable. I feel that people who enjoy films such as "Pulp Fiction", "True Romance" and "Leon" will get the most from this film, but would not recommend it to anyone who expects outrageous comedy.
Grosse Pointe Blank is available on Amazon for £5.97 which is a good price, even without any DVD extras.
...and never went back to Grosse Pointe where she still lives, working as a DJ in the local radio station knocking out 80s hits, but is obviously still holding a candle. Just how do you introduce yourself to someone you walked out on 10 years ago anyway...and then how do you tell them you've spent those 10 years killing people for money? As 'luck' would have it however, Martin gets a hit to perform in Grosse Point during the time of the reunion and ... ...all sure what you call Grosse Pointe Blank to be honest and despite seemingly being marketed as such when it was released, 'romantic comedy' isn't the label I would have attached to it. For sure, there are elements/a central theme of romance here, but mostly it's packed with some very black humour, a few scenes which wouldn't be out of place in a Tarantino flick including one very violent, bloody murder with a ball point pen and umm, yeah it's 'different'! ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Great script, actors, soundtrack Disadvantages: None I can think of!
...my all-time favourite films – Grosse Pointe Blank.
I first went to see this film at one of my college’s film nights – a bargain £2.00 entry fee, although they get the good films a few weeks after the main cinemas have stopped showing them. After a bit of a mix up (I think the projectionists are the students) they managed to show the beginning of the last reel in the middle of the film – que a voice yelling “Sorry Folks ... ...and go back home to Grosse Pointe. There he intends to go to his 10 year High School reunion, woo back the girl he dumped on prom night and kill someone at the same time – like you do. But he has a few problems. A rival assassin Grocer, played by Dan Aykroyd is dismayed when Marty refuses to join his union (“We could be working together, making big money, killing important people.... “) and so tips off some government spooks about ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: The performance, the script, the soundtrack... need I go on? Disadvantages: Don't be daft
Grosse Pointe Blank is Hollywood film making at its most innovative and impressive and ranks as one of my favourite films of all time. It is directed by George Armitage and stars the epitome of cool John Cusack and the beautiful and talented Minnie Driver as the leads in a black comedy that seamlessly combines sublime action and touching romance with a script sharp enough to cut yourself on. As you may be able to tell I’m quite a fan. John ... ...he has to return to Grosse Pointe to ‘make amends’ and ‘delete’ someone, after shooting his last target who was supposed to ‘die naturally’. So the basic plot is relatively simple but this movie is less about contrived plot than magnificent script and delivery from the range of characters.
Firstly we have Grocer (Dan Ackroyd), who is in the same ‘rarefied profession’ as Martin and is intent on setting ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Just so damn funny Disadvantages: None whatsoever
...possibly my all-time favourite flick Grosse Point Blank.
Looked over for far too long, I felt that as a fan of the aforementioned movie I had a sacred duty to perform in attempting to bring this out from under the shadow of mediocrity, where it has languished for far too long, and into the light and also, with any luck, into people's DVD players too.
Written by Tom Jankiewicz. D.V. DeVincentis and Steve Pink ( 40 Days And 40 Nights, and High Fidelity. ... ...and Directed by George Armitage, Grosse Point Blank tells the tale of one mans quest to find meaning in his life.
And where better a place to start than by going to his 10 year High School Reunion at Grosse Point, Michigan.
But life is never as simple as all that and this would be one boring review if that was all there was to the movie. There really is only one place to start this tale and that would be at the beginning, 10 years before the movie ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
What do you do when you are invited to your high school ten year reunion but you have spent those last ten years being a professional killer? Do you make up some boring subarban lifestyle or do you tell your former class mates what you actually do? This is the dilemma facing Martin Blank (played by John Cusack) in High School Blank.
It's hard to decide exactly what genre this film fits. I would probably describe it as a romantic comedy with a few ... ...it though, Gross Point Blank is an entertaining and funny film which is well worth watching on DVD.
At the start of the film, we meet Martin Blank. He's doing OK in his chosen career but things could be better especially when one planned killing goes a bit wrong. In order to make amends he is comissioned to kill someone else and the location is, conicidentally, where his ten year reunion is due to take place. Could it be fate that he is destined ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Plot: Martin Blank is a contract killer but thinks his client has put a contract out on him. He heads off to his High School reunion to escape and there he runs into his old sweetheart...
DVD Description
A nihilistically philosophical hit man (John Cusack) reluctantly accepts an assignment in Detroit, coinciding with his 10-year high school reunion in the ritzy suburb of Grosse Point, Michigan. While in town, he tries to patch things up with the girlfriend (Minnie Driver) he abandoned on prom night, avoid being killed by an over-zealous competitor's henchmen, and survive his surreal homecoming. The film is a bullet-ridden, darkly comedic tale of self-discovery from star-writer-producer Cusack.
Release details
DVD Region: DVD
Studio(s): Touchstone Home Video; Technicolor Distribution Services
Release date: 22/01/2001
No of Discs: 1
Catalogue No: BED 888205
Barcode: 5017188882057
Production Designer: Steven Altman
Screenwriter: John Cusack, Tom Jankiewicz, Steve Pink, D.V. DeVincentis
![Grosse Pointe Blank [DVD] [1997]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78550215.jpg)
