Point Blank

This was a punchy, French, action based film that was quite good, but with more developed characters, could have been brilliant.

Point Blank is well paced, dramatic, entertaining and I suppose most importantly believable. A criminal escapes murder, whilst in hospital, and forces his nurse to team up with him, as he avoids the police and his killers. The reluctant nurse aids the gangster, with his kidnapped pregnant wife held captive, to escape what is a corrupt police unit. To say any more would almost spoil the plot.

PB is ambitious, true to the action-chase genre and boasts some nice French cinema, and culture elements (especially visually), but ultimately comes up short of anything other than just plain good. A refreshing spin on this sort of thing, providing a decent afternoon's viewing.

point blank doesn't have very deep characters (but still it's amazing how the dramatic scenes work) , nor a huge complex plot, and it's not about metaphors or cultural references. It's a fast paced action ride, that changes all the time, that knows very well how to manage their timings in the scenes. It's really a cool action flick, and you realize how short it is when it ends. It was conceived as a thrill fun, short ride, an after that you just take a deep breath, because you saw people running during the 80 minutes.

It's not the most amazing film ever, but if you look for a nice film keeping you on the edge of the seat, this is widely recommended.

This is how you make an action-packed thriller. Swift, brutal and void of any kind of silly subplots that give too much time to words when the characters should just be racing for their lives. They quickly establish the characters in a clean and effective way and then shock you by going right into the action. With a very nice 80 minute runtime the film breezes by without dragging for a moment and you really just get caught up in the exciting chaos of it all. There's definitely no reinventing the wheel here, but it stands up with Taken and Running Scared as one of the best action films to come out this past decade. It was exactly what I wanted.

There were some moments that really made me sit up in my chair just by how much of a gut punch they were; some things I definitely didn't see coming. Gilles Lellouche is a great leading man, capable of portraying both the everyman and the action star qualities of his character while still being completely believable when he has to portray the dramatic moments to keep you on his side and understanding of what he is fighting for. It's stylish as hell and is seriously just pushing it's foot to pavement for the entire running time. This is a real crowd-pleaser.

French cinema is well known to the audience, especially to those tending to Art film. Besides French film influence which is the reference in the field, France is also very well known as a land of the Crime genre. I am myself great fan of their Film Noir and New Wave and I am totally crazy about their crime (gangster) movies from earlier periods and contemporary as well.

French crime movies did not loose its charm even today, and almost every year there are few great titles. It comes to my mind modern director like it is Olivier Marchal which movies I like very much, but there are respectable list of other names, both directors and actors.

Point Blank movie did not disappoint, and it were a pleasure to watch it. Even the name reminds me on classic US crime movie with Lee Marvin, but it have nothing similar with it. The plot of Point Blank is good, and somehow original, even it is not hard to predicts the end, which is usual for most movie.

This is not pure crime movie, I would add that there is a bit of thriller smell in it. The actors did a good job, especially well known actor Roschdy Zem which can be seen in most of the crime movies. I am not familiar with director Fred Cavaye, but he did a good job here, and he offer us fine work in tradition of French crime cinema.

For those looking for typical Hollywood action pack, maybe it is better to look at something else, but for those that like classic action crime European movie, it is more than recommended.

Smart action thrillers are rare. Rarer still is a smart action thriller that features a complex yet comprehensible (and credible) plot, characters you care about, and vivid, crisp directing. "Point Blank" is one of these rarities. It utilizes many elements of classic action films—an innocent "good guy" who unwittingly becomes caught up in a dangerous plot, a woman in jeopardy, corrupt cops, and unexpected twists. The film avoids cliché, however, and it moves along at lightning speed (total running time is about 80 minutes). The French setting is an added bonus, and the acting and editing are very well done. Subtract a star if subtitles annoy you.