Point Blank (2010)
"À bout portant" (original title)

Samuel Pierret (Gilles Lellouche) is a nurse who saves the wrong guy -- a thief (Roschdy Zem) whose henchmen take Samuel's pregnant wife (Elena Anaya) hostage to force him to spring their ... See full summary »

Director:

Fred Cavayé

Writers:

Fred Cavayé (scenario), Guillaume Lemans (scenario)

Stars:

Gilles Lellouche, Roschdy Zem, Gérard Lanvin

1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gilles Lellouche	...	Samuel Pierret
Roschdy Zem	...	Hugo Sartet
Gérard Lanvin	...	Commandant Patrick Werner
Elena Anaya	...	Nadia Pierret
Mireille Perrier	...	Commandant Fabre
Claire Pérot	...	Capitaine Anaïs Susini
Moussa Maaskri	...	Capitaine Vogel
Pierre Benoist	...	Capitaine Mercier
Valérie Dashwood	...	Capitaine Moreau
Virgile Bramly	...	Capitaine Mansart
Nicky Naudé	...	Capitaine Richert (as Nicky Naude)
Adel Bencherif	...	Luc Sartet
Vincent Colombe	...	Interne de garde
Chems Dahmani	...	Aide-soignant
Grégoire Bonnet	...	Jaffart, chef DPJ

Storyline

Samuel Pierret (Gilles Lellouche) is a nurse who saves the wrong guy -- a thief (Roschdy Zem) whose henchmen take Samuel's pregnant wife (Elena Anaya) hostage to force him to spring their boss from the hospital. A race through the subways and streets of Paris ensues, and the body count rises. Can Samuel evade the cops and the criminal underground and deliver his beloved to safety?

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Plot Keywords:

criminal | subway | nurse | hospital | pregnant wife | 

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

rated R for strong violence and some language

Details

Official Sites:

Gaumont [France] Official Facebook

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

1 December 2010 (France)

Also Known As:

Point Blank

Box Office

Budget:

$16,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$41,031 (USA) (29 July 2011)

Gross:

$706,937 (USA) (11 November 2011)

Company Credits

Production Co:

LGM Productions, Gaumont, TF1 Films Production

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

When Samuel tries to wake up Hugo, in a shot across the corridor in the renovated hospital floor, a face can be seen on the left behind a door, looking down and talking. (around 19'30")

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Connections

References Diva (1981)

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Soundtracks

"O Du, Mein Holder Abendstern"
Written by Richard Wagner
Performed by Bryn Terfel and the Orchestra of the Welsh National Opera

User Reviews

Fast, intense, virtuosic camera and editing, keeping a formula situation alive and kicking

Point Blank (2010)

Not to be confused with the semi-classic 1967 movie of the same title with Lee Marvin, this is not a remake or an echo of that. What this French action thriller is fits another category--the non-stop kinetic run from the bad-guys film, which has become a kind of staple. Think the Bourne movies, or a couple later Liam Neeson films, where the hero gets himself into a terrible situation that requires running and running and running.

And that's enough, in a way, because you can't stop looking. There are no lulls. In fact, some of the moments have such kinetic surprise to them they deserve study. Your stomach will turn. Don't expect a big rationale. Don't even quite expect to care for anything except that our main man, and his wife, survive the ordeal. There are crosses and double-crosses. There is horrid abuse of women which I could do without (the rationale might just be the perils of Pauline kind of thing, saving her with the handsome male to the rescue, but it's just plain abusive). There is one female cop who is a great tough archetype. And lots of bad violent men.

But, truly, none of this is meant to matter. You just grab onto the handles and don't let go. It's really really well made, visually, the camera-work and editing taking front seat. I'd see it on the biggest screen you can, since that's where it's all at.