Grosse Pointe Blank (1997)

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

Writers:

Tom Jankiewicz (story), Tom Jankiewicz (screenplay),

Stars:

John Cusack, Minnie Driver, Dan Aykroyd

2 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Cusack	...	Martin Q. Blank
Minnie Driver	...	Debi Newberry
Alan Arkin	...	Dr. Oatman
Dan Aykroyd	...	Grocer
Joan Cusack	...	Marcella
Hank Azaria	...	Steven Lardner
K. Todd Freeman	...	Kenneth McCullers
Jeremy Piven	...	Paul Spericki
Mitch Ryan	...	Mr. Bart Newberry (as Mitchell Ryan)
Michael Cudlitz	...	Bob Destepello
Benny Urquidez	...	Felix La PuBelle
Duffy Taylor	...	Ultimart Carl
Audrey Kissel	...	Arlene
Carlos Jacott	...	Ken
Brian Powell	...	Husky Man

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."

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Plot Keywords:

assassin | reunion | high school | high school reunion | suburb | 

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Taglines:

A comedy about a hit man, a high school reunion, and the girl he left behind.

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Romance | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence, language and some drug content

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 April 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Tiro al blanco

Filming Locations:

Ambassador Hotel - 3400 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, USA

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

Production Co:

Hollywood Pictures, Caravan Pictures, New Crime Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Minnie Driver tells John Cusack at her apartment that he's a "...psycho," she can be seen moving her hand as though talking. In an interview, Cusack said that this was an ad-lib, as she had seen John and Joan Cusack doing something similar with each other on the set, off-camera.

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Goofs

When Martin is on the landline phone in the hotel room before leaving for the reunion, he hangs up the phone with the cord of the receiver hung on the right. Moments later when Felix enters the room and sees the reunion invitation next to the phone, the cord is hanging on the left.

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Quotes

[Talking to his psychiatrist about going to his high school reunion]
Marty: They all have husbands and wives and children and houses and dogs, and, you know, they've all made themselves a part of something and they can talk about what they do. What am I gonna say? "I killed the president of Paraguay with a fork. How've you been?"

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Connections

References Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)

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Soundtracks

"Take on Me"
Written by Morten Harket, Pål Waaktaar, and Magne Furuholmen
Performed by A-Ha
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Records Inc.
By Arrangement with Warner Special Products

User Reviews

Wonderfully fun comedy

About the same time as this film was made there was a spate of hitman focused comedy dramas (from Leon to Coldblooded) so this risked being viewed in the same way as these. This is strictly a comedy - there's no deep soul searching here, the analyst is also in it for comedy value.

The story is funny and lively, the soundtrack reminded us that not all 80's music was rubbish and the whole feel of the film is one that it must have been fun to make. John Cusack is excellent as the hitman, he just seems to bring the character to life and play him in a jokey way without making fun of the film, Dan Akroyd gets the best role he's had in years as the hitman trying to get Cusack to join his union, while Minnie Driver is girly and fun

• the whole cast are excellent in fact!

The film is not a classic by any means and many see it as a down side that it ignores any serious issues or that the film is set so far away from reality but for me this is part of the fun. Sit down, don't take it seriously and just enjoy the ride!