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Grosse Pointe Blank (1997) 7.3
Ratings:
7.3/10 from 55,941 users
Metascore: 76/100
Reviews: 272 user | 108 critic | 27 from Metacritic.com Martin Blank is a professional assassin. He is sent on a mission to a small Detroit suburb, Grosse Pointe, and, by coincidence, his ten-year high school reunion party is taking place there at the same time. Director:George Armitage |
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Title: Grosse Pointe Blank (1997)
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Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| John Cusack | ... | ||
| Minnie Driver | ... | ||
| Alan Arkin | ... | ||
| Dan Aykroyd | ... | ||
| Joan Cusack | ... | ||
| Hank Azaria | ... | ||
| K. Todd Freeman | ... | ||
| Jeremy Piven | ... | ||
| Mitch Ryan | ... |
Mr. Bart Newberry
(as Mitchell Ryan)
|
|
| Michael Cudlitz | ... | ||
| Benny Urquidez | ... | ||
 |
Duffy Taylor | ... | |
|
|
Audrey Kissel | ... | |
| Carlos Jacott | ... | ||
| Brian Powell | ... | ||
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Plot Summary
|
Plot Synopsis
Storyline
Martin Blank is a freelance hitman who starts to develop a conscience, which causes him to muff a couple of routine assignments. On the advice of his secretary and his psychiatrist, he attends his 10th year High School reunion in Grosse Pointe, Michigan (a Detroit suburb where he's also contracted to kill someone). Hot on his tail are a couple of over-enthusiastic federal agents, another assassin who wants to kill him, and Grocer, an assassin who wants him to join an "Assassin's Union." Written by Afterburner <aburner@erols.com>
Taglines:
Even A Hit Man Deserves A Second Shot! See more »Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
Rated R for strong violence, language and some drug content | See all certifications »Parents Guide:
View content advisory »
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Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
11 April 1997 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Tiro al blanco See more »Filming Locations:
Ambassador Hotel - 3400 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, USA See more »Box Office
Budget:
$15,000,000 (estimated)Opening Weekend:
$6,870,397 (USA) (11 April 1997)Gross:
$28,014,536 (USA) (8 August 1997)Company Credits
Show detailed
company contact information
on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Color:
ColorAspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1
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Marty: Don't rush to judgment on something like that until all the facts are in.
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Written by Jörn-Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen (as Joern-Uwe Fahrenkrog-Peterson) and Karlo Carges (as Carlo Karges)
Performed by Nena
Courtesy of Epic Records
By Arrangement with Sony Music Licensing
See more »
Did You Know?
Trivia
In the opening scenes of Detroit the Great Lakes freighter on the Detroit River near the Ambassador bridge is the S/S Elton Hoyt 2nd. See more »Goofs
In the beginning of the movie, just before Martin sees Debi for the first time, sitting in her radio booth, he is driving in his car and looking to his right. He is wearing a black cap and sunglasses. The camera mounted in the open window of the car, is clearly visible in their reflection multiple times. See more »Quotes
Debi: You're a fucking *psycho*.Marty: Don't rush to judgment on something like that until all the facts are in.
See more »
Soundtracks
"99 Luftballons"Written by Jörn-Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen (as Joern-Uwe Fahrenkrog-Peterson) and Karlo Carges (as Carlo Karges)
Performed by Nena
Courtesy of Epic Records
By Arrangement with Sony Music Licensing
See more »
I love this film! Starring John Cusack, England's patriotically-named Minnie Driver, plus Dan Ackroyd, Alan Arkin & Joan Cusack, ‘Grosse Pointe Blank' is funny, clever, action-packed & has a great ‘eighties soundtrack.
John Cusack - as the film's protagonist Martin Blank - is superb, & virtually carries the whole movie. He plays an assassin who started out working for the U.S. Government but has now gone freelance, having managed to rationalise his cold-blooded killing. He is an amoral, sharp, ruthless killer, but also vulnerably human, neurotic, conscience-ridden, tender & romantic. Despite these ostensibly impossible personality contradictions, you never once question that his character is real, you can't help but like the guy, & never stop hoping that things work out for him. Pulling this off is a remarkable achievement & Cusack does it brilliantly.
He reluctantly accepts a commission that takes him back to his hometown, Grosse Pointe, coincidentally at exactly the same time as his old High School reunion. While there he visits his childhood sweetheart, local DJ Debi (Driver), for the first time in 10 years – when in a fit of madness he had ditched her on their prom night to run off & join the army. As neither she nor anyone else had heard anything from him since then, her feelings about this are understandably rather mixed!
Blank visits his institutionalised Mum & the family home, which to his great distress is now an ‘Ultimart', & eventually convinces Debi to go with him to the reunion. His reacquaintances with his former schoolmates are very funny & even quite touching, & are sure to strike a chord with anyone who's ever been to one of those things.
Meanwhile various other assassins, chief of which is Blank's rival Grocer (Ackroyd – brilliant as ever) are out to kill him. Their reasons are many & varied – mainly involving an ‘Assassin's union', secret Government operations & a dead dog (yes, really!). As you can probably guess, these are not the sort of things that are conducive to a successful High School reunion, & mayhem ensues.
‘Grosse Pointe Blank' is extremely funny, full of deadpan, twisted humour - mainly from Cusack, but ably supported by Ackroyd & Arkin. I particularly liked the running gag of Blank's response to the inevitable "what do you do for a living?" question: a completely matter-of-fact "professional killer", which of course not one person takes seriously. I also loved the hilariously neurotic exchanges between Blank & his hounded shrink (Arkin), who ends every conversation with "Don't kill anyone!" There's also a lovely little story involving a pen...
The film is also a great action flick - it has some brilliantly choreographed & executed gunfight & hand-to-hand fight sequences – in fact some of the best I've ever seen. Cusack looks, or at least is made to look, like a pretty decent athlete himself. The finale is a real tour-de-force, & for me sums up the movie itself: a great gunfight, clever & hilariously funny.
This film is wonderful from start to finish – if you haven't done so already, see it now!