Official Synopsis
John Cusack (HOT TUB TIME MACHINE) and Academy Award(R) nominees Minnie Driver (Best Supporting Actress, 1997, GOOD WILL HUNTING) and Dan Akyroyd (Best Supporting Actor, 1989, DRIVING MISS DAISY) are hilarious in this surefire knockout, loaded with action and laughs. Martin Blank is a hit man stuck in a career rut when his 10-year high school reunion gives him the chance to rekindle an old flame and pull off one final job. Things are looking up until his arch rival joins the party, aiming to blow the competition away.
What’s fun about Grosse Point Blank is that it kind of puts Cusack out of that ‘good boy’ role that we’re so use to seeing him in. I know that he was in movies like Fat Man and Little Boy and The Grifters, but this seemed different. He brought this unforgiving, killing instinct to the game, but also this pitiful ‘want to be normal’ desperation in his character. It’s a bit vicious and sad, which is a weird combination for him. On top of this, his character opens up a love story in the middle of this dark comedy. It’s very different from the usual Cusack stuff, and he’s great at it. For the first time, Grosse Point Blank makes John Cusack into a complete badass. What other movies do that? See, nothing comes to mind.
Cusack aside, the film flows brilliantly along. You get this healthy introduction of who Martin Blank is, then it shifts to who he wants to be and then it ends on what he can’t escape. It’s a perfectly planned three-act play that operates as methodically as Cusack’s Martin Blank. As with Blank, the film does have a few hiccups.
The biggest hiccup is the fact that when the big reveal happens with Debi (Minnie Driver) the shock only lasts for a short amount of time. And while this might be intentional by director George Armitage, the last fight scene kind of makes Martin seem a bit ‘off’. That’s to be expected with other characters, but it’s hard to conclude and bring back on track with Cusack’s Martin. He seems just too out there by the end of the film, and it’s hard to see someone like Debi staying with him (or not turning him to the police).
Other than that, there are tiny little things here and there, but nothing stands out quite like the previously discussed hiccup.
Anyway, at the end of the day, Grosse Point Blank is a fun, romantic (no, seriously), dark comedy that you’ll enjoy.
As for the Blu-ray portion of this review, it’s a good transfer. The film aged well, the transfer was done properly, and you don’t get much artifacts or grain in the picture. The colors are very balanced, though regretfully the 90s tended to go with a warped set of shades found in the 70s (lots of grays, browns, dark colors). The transfer was clean and crisp, so no complaints there. There was absolutely no compression issues or color banding problems. It is a very solid HD transfer.
The masterful portion of this release is the audio. If you know of this film then you know how absolutely (bleeping) kickass the soundtrack is, and it comes to you in 5.1 DTS-HD. So, besides hearing the shots and action properly, you’re going to hear a wonderful selection of songs equally (if not better) properly. Honestly, it’s the strongest part of the Blu-ray release.
Regretfully, no special features.