GROSSE POINTE BLANK (PG-13).
Director: George Armitage
Stars: John Cusack, Minnie
Driver, Dan Aykroyd, Alan Arkin,
Joan Cusack, Hank Azaria, Mitchell
Ryan, Jeremy Piven, Barbara Harris,
K Todd Freeman, D V DeVincentis,
Steve Pink.
John Cusack has always been one of his generation's
more underrated actors, but lately he has been getting
more solid and meatier roles, such as the ambitious
mayoral aide in City Hall and the heroic FBI agent in
the recent action hit Con Air. Grosse Pointe Blank
sees Cusack taking a more active role in the direction
of his own career, as he not only co-produced this
wonderfully off beat film, but developed the script
with two former school friends, Steve Pink and D V
DeVincentis.
Like Romy and Michelle before him, Martin Q Blank
(Cusack) learns that going home for a high school
reunion is fraught with problems, especially when you
can't talk about your job. Martin is a top professional
hitman, but recently he seems to have been losing his
edge and has doubts about the morality of his
profession. Not only does he have to compete with a
rival hitman (Dan Aykroyd) muscling in on his jobs,
but he is haunted by dreams of Debi (Minnie
Driver), the former girl friend he abandoned on prom
night. His highly neurotic psychiatrist (a wonderfully
comic turn from veteran Alan Arkin) suggests that
attending his high school reunion might be a good way
to work through these crises in his life, provided he
doesn't kill anyone.
By chance, Martin's latest assignment takes him home
to Grosse Pointe on the very weekend of his reunion,
and he decides to use the opportunity to put his life
into perspective and deal with the ghosts of his past.
Upon returning home for the first time in ten years,
Martin finds that little is as he remembers. The family
house in which he grew up has been torn down and a
convenience store now stands in its place; his ageing
mother resides in a nursing home; and most of his
former friends have settled comfortably into the
stifling routine of family life and dead end careers.
Director George Armitage (best remembered for his
off beat and underrated crime thriller Miami Blues)
seems to have the right sense of the absurd that is
perfect for this clever satire of the cut throat ethics of
big business and the American dream of success at all
costs. He directs with energy and style, maintaining a
rapid pace throughout, although he does temper the
occasionally gratuitous violence with a strong streak
of black humour. Numerous key set pieces, such as
the shoot-outs in the convenience store and at Debi's
home, are handled with gusto. Armitage and
cinematographer Jamie Anderson make clever use
of locations within the Los Angeles area to recreate
the wealthy suburb of Grosse Pointe.
Armitage is well served by the solid cast whose
performances are spot on. Cusack has the right
combination of boyish good looks, charm and
underlying streak of ruthlessness to make his
character both credible and likeable. Driver is
wonderful as the jilted girl friend who has to decide
whether to forgive and forget; Joan Cusack is
marvellous as Blank's shrill and dizzy secretary;
Arkin brings a nervous edge to his smaller role; while
even Aykroyd seems to be enjoying himself
immensely in his best role in ages.
Music plays an increasingly important part in setting
the mood of most Hollywood movies today, and
Grosse Pointe Blank is no exception. It weighs in
with a fantastic retro soundtrack of '80's acts,
including Queen and The Clash, that captures the
mood of the film. Ex- Clash member Joe Strummer
even composed the film's original music score.
Don't ask how the reunion committee managed to
track down Martin, described by a former teacher as
having pulled off "Grosse Pointe's most famous
disappearing act," but lose yourself in the quirky
charms of this off beat, and occasionally violent black
comedy that blithely wanders into territory that is
normally the preserve of Tarantino.