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Kansas City's Online Journal of the Performing Arts

A desperate man is a dangerous thing. It’s a tagline intended to generate an irresistible sense of intrigue as to what the French action thriller Point Blank is all about. Once it starts, it’s easy to tell that this story of an everyday Joe stuck in the wrong place at the wrong time can be interpreted two different ways. 

Point Blank punches us squarely on the nose from the start, as a wounded man, who we later learn is career thief Hugo Sartet (Roschdy Zem, 36^th Precinct), is being chased by two men desperate to kill him. You wouldn’t think it, but it turns out it is good fortune to be struck by a speeding motorcycle when being pursued by men with guns.

Samuel Pierret (Gilles Lellouche, Mesrine: Killer Instinct) is a nurse’s aide who happens to be on duty when a stranger enters the critical care ward and cuts Hugo’s ventilator. Samuel saves his life and returns home a hero to his pregnant wife, Nadia (Elena Anaya, Van Helsing).

The unlucky father-to-be is bushwhacked and Nadia is kidnapped. Samuel is told via cell phone that he must sneak Hugo out of the hospital, past the police, and to a meeting site where he will get Nadia back. If he refuses, she dies.

From that point on, Samuel is doggedly pursued by two competing police squads in a citywide manhunt that he must avoid in order to save Nadia. Of course, it doesn’t help that he’s joined at the hip by a man whose murky background marks him as more iniquitous than those who pursue them.

So who is the truly dangerous man in all of this? Both men are desperate, but they are dangerous in vastly different ways. Zem delivers the film’s best performance as he gives Hugo a Steve McQueen-like quality. However, we only get to know him in a vague sense, as the story is told primarily through the eyes of Samuel.

Samuel is a nice enough, everyday guy who certainly does all the things you would expect a man trapped in his position would do. Still, Lellouche gives him too much of a frantic, squirrel-caught-in-the-headlights quality.

Because of Point Blank’s brevity, there is not much time to get to know the secondary characters. More time could have given us a chance to better understand the inner workings of the two police squads. As it is, they are little more than people who love black leather coats and wear orange arm bands to identify themselves as cops.

Direcot Fred Cavayé, who made his debut in 2008 with Anything For Her, a crime thriller which was remade as The Next Three Days with Russell Crowe, keeps the film’s pacing taut and the action entertaining. At the very least, it will maintain your attention.

Desperate for stories, Hollywood will probably do the dangerous thing again and clone this French thriller sometime soon.

On a letter grade scale from “A” being excellent to “F” for failing Point Blank receives a C+.

Point Blank is unrated and has a running time of 84 minutes.

Now showing through October 6 @
Tivoli Cinemas
Westport Manor Square
4050 Pennsylvania, KCMO
Visit www.tivolikc.com or call 913-383-7756 for more information.

By Michael D. Smith

Indie Film Editor

Michael D. Smith earned a Bachelor of Arts in history at College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, Missouri followed by a Master of Arts in history at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Inspired by such critics as Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, Michael started reviewing films in 1992 for College of the Ozarks's student-run newspaper. After returning to the Kansas City area in 1994, he continued film reviewing by writing for the Cass County Democrat Missourian in Harrisonville.

In 2000 Michael joined Sun Publications in Overland Park, Kansas where he served as its film critic and Arts and Entertainment Editor. During his tenure there, he was also the film critic for the "Fine Arts Radio Hour" and "Celebrity Scoop" radio shows on KXTR. After leaving the Sun in late 2002, he became the A&E writer for the Olathe News in Olathe, Kansas. He also worked as a freelance writer for The Squire in Leawood, Showcase Publishing in Lake Ozark, Missouri and the Kansas City Star.

Michael is currently a member of the Kansas City Film Critics Circle, a professional film critic organization established in 1966 by the late Dr. James Loutzenhiser.