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Poster (c) Hollywood Pictures
With a title like a puzzle on Wheel of Fortune, and a soundtrack that’s too much like music of six years later, who couldn’t like Grosse Pointe Blank? Not only is one of the most entertaining movies that I’ve seen this year, but also mixes action, comedy, and romance very well.
John Cusack (in an extremely good role) is Martin Blank, a profession hit man. During an opening scene reminiscent to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, with a song that’s completely different than the scene that’s showing, his secretary Marcella (Joan Cusack) tells him of his ten year reunion in Grosse Pointe, Michigan. In addition, his psychiatrist (Alan Arkin) doesn’t really like him; he says to go a few days without killing anyone, and what perfect time to do that than at his reunion? Well, Martin has a hit up there, but he’s trying to stop being a hit man also.
Once Martin arrives, he tries to get back together with the girl who he stood up on prom night, Debi (Minnie Driver), who now works as a disc jockey. She, of course, is a little nervous. Also, rival hit man Grocer (Aykroyd, in an almost Oscar-worthy acting job) is in town to whack Martin, along with FBI agents McCullers and Lardner (K. Todd Freeman and Hank Azaria). And all this is before the actual reunion.
Grosse Pointe Blank has enough writers for the curse of the multiple writers (it usually seems like movies with four or more writers are laughless and horrible, an example is The Adventures of Pluto Nash). And yes, this movie isn’t very funny. I only laughed a few times. However, the main reason that Grosse Pointe Blank is such a great movie is that it’s constantly entertaining and fun to watch. I haven’t seen a movie for a long time that is this entertaining. Never once was I bored or tired of this movie, I was just having a good time.
Something else that adds to this movie is how real it is. Although it has something that other movies and shows have, with murderers seeing psychiatrists and feeling conflicted, I bought the romance between Cusack and Driver. I actually believed that Martin was going back to his hometown for a reunion. Not once did I think of him as John Cusack, he was always Martin Blank. Cusack did an amazing job. One thing that I really liked about his character was how he tried to explain everything (especially at the end) in the most inappropriate of times. For example, he’s shooting at someone as he’s telling Debi that he loves her. Driver was ok, but I didn’t think she was anything to write home about. Aykroyd, as I said before, could have been nominated for an Oscar. He was great. Joan Cusack was also very good as the high-strung secretary (fun fact: two other Cusack siblings, Amy and Bill, are in this movie). The chemistry between Freeman and Azaria was very good too, although, I wish that he has more of a role.
To close it up, Grosse Pointe Blank is an extremely entertaining, if unfunny, comedy that is always worth a watch.
Rated R for strong violence, language and some drug content.
Review Date: September 10, 2003