Punto ciego

Hollow Point is a mid 90's B movie with an all star cast. Leading the way are Thomas Ian Griffith and Tia Carrere with strong support from John Lithgow and Donald Sutherland. It is odd to see Griffith with short hair but he is good here in the action and the comedy moments. Even better is John Lithgow as the main villain who gets some memorable lines. Tia Carrere gives a solid performance but the star of the show is Donal Sutherland clearly enjoying his role as a hitman and he also has many memorable one liners. The action in the film is merely serviceable but the chemistry of the stars overcomes this. I have revisited this film a few times over the years and always have fun with it. It is a brisk 90 minutes long and always manages to put a smile on my face with the comedic elements. Hollow Point once again demonstrates how underrated Thomas Ian Griffith is, he really should have become a bigger star.

The plot: A crime lord is uniting 3 different mafias in an entreprise to buy an island, that would then serve as money-laundering facility for organized crime. To thwart that, the FBI tries to bust one of the mafia lords. The thing goes wrong, and by some unlikely plot twists and turns, we are presented with another "cop buddies who don't like each other" movie... one being a female FBI agent, and the other a male ex-DEA agent.

So far, so stupid. But the strength of this movie does not lie in its story - a poor joke, at best. It is funny. (At least the synchronized German version is). The action is good, too, with a memorable scene involving a shot gun and a rocket launcher. But the focus is squarely on the humour. Not intelligent satire, not quite slapstick, but somewhere in between, you get a lot of funny jokes.

However, this film is the opposite of political correctness. Legal drug abuse is featured prominently, without criticism, and even displaying it as cool. That's the bit of the movie that seriously annoyed me, and renders it unsuitable for kids, in my opinion.

All in all, for a nice evening watching come acceptable action with some funny jokes, this movie is perfect. Just remember: In this genre, it is common to leave your brain at the door when you enter the cinema / TV room. Then you'll have a good time. 8/10

For a B-movie this film succeeds where so many A-list action comedies fail where as it is actually funny. The chemistry between Griffiths and Carrera fires off the screen and it so cool seeing John Lithgow and Donald Sutherland just being awesome. What this film really shows though is the kind of sad missed opportunity Thomas Ian Griffiths was who quit acting in 2007. To his credit he absolutely has more screen presence and charisma than damn near any of the big action stars of the last thirty years and now we have people like Sam Worthington who is so dull its painful. A solid fun film.

I think Hollow Point is a funny film with some good moments I have never seen before in action movies. Well,both Tia Carrere and Thomas Ian Griffith aren't so good in acting, but Tia Carrere is nice and good looking girl, isn't it? But Donald Sutherland is superb in his role so-so mad gangster.

I don't know if it's her hairstyle (short hair looks great on some women - she is clearly one of them), or her soft makeup, or her attitude, or the way she handles a gun, or the way she fights. It's probably a combination of all of the above that makes Tia Carrere SO sexy in this movie it's distracting - you may find yourself focusing too much on her and not paying enough attention to the rest of the movie. Thomas Ian Griffith shows a flair for self-spoofing, a quality I always appreciate in an action hero, and Donald Sutherland clearly had a good time playing an eccentric, soft-spoken assassin. A quirky sense of humor, occasionally amusing dialogue ("When did you stop trusting me?" "January 30, 1968") and some big explosions add up to an unpretentious and generally fun little action-comedy. (**1/2)