Point of No Return (1993)

Drug addict Maggie Hayward's consistent violence, even in police custody, ends in the execution chamber. However, top secret U.S. government Agent "Bob" arranges a staged death, so Maggie ... See full summary »

Director:

John Badham

Writers:

Luc Besson (film La Femme Nikita), Robert Getchell (screenplay)

Stars:

Bridget Fonda, Gabriel Byrne, Dermot Mulroney

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bridget Fonda	...	Maggie
Gabriel Byrne	...	Bob
Dermot Mulroney	...	J.P.
Miguel Ferrer	...	Kaufman
Anne Bancroft	...	Amanda
Olivia d'Abo	...	Angela
Richard Romanus	...	Fahd Bahktiar
Harvey Keitel	...	Victor the Cleaner
Lorraine Toussaint	...	Beth
Geoffrey Lewis	...	Drugstore Owner
Mic Rodgers	...	Cop
Michael Rapaport	...	Big Stan
Ray Oriel	...	Burt
Spike McClure	...	Johnny D
Lieux Dressler	...	Johnny's Mom

Storyline

Drug addict Maggie Hayward's consistent violence, even in police custody, ends in the execution chamber. However, top secret U.S. government Agent "Bob" arranges a staged death, so Maggie can be elaborately trained as a killer. She gets a new cover identity as saleswoman Claudia Anne Doran. She also finds a housemate, building super J.P., a broad-minded, gentle photographer. The two fall in love, and that complicates her government assignments. His influence extends to breeding in her a conscience that supplants her violent tendencies, and desire to continue work for the agency.

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Plot Keywords:

camera shot of feet | foot closeup | female stockinged feet | pantyhose | woman murders a man | 

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Taglines:

The Government gave her a choice. Death. Or life as an assassin. Now, there's no turning back.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence, and for language and sexuality

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

19 March 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

Girl No. 5

Filming Locations:

523 Ocean Front Walk, Venice, California, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$30,038,362

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Art Linson Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min 104 min (TV) 101 min (TV)

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In Europe and Asia, the film was retitled "The Assassin", after it "underperformed" in the U.S. with its original title. Warner Brothers felt the new title would help sell the action element.

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Goofs

In the Mardi Gras assasination scene, Maggie's Anschutz .22LR, match, single-shot bolt-action rifle is fired semi-automatically.

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Quotes

Maggie: I never did mind about the little things.

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Connections

Referenced in Beastie Boys: Video Anthology (2000)

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Soundtracks

ZYDECO BOOGALOO
Written by Buckwheat Zydeco (as Stanley Dural Jr.)
Performed by Buckwheat Zydeco
Courtesy of Pounder Records Corp.

User Reviews

If you can get past the brutality you might enjoy it.

This IS a really brutal movie-I usually don't like violence in movies but in this case the violence was sort of neccessary for the overall subject at hand. Once I got past that, I really enjoyed this in a way that surprised me because it wouldn't be the type of pic I'd usally watch.

I think Gabriel Byrne is what made this movie. He was great as Bob and the chemistry between him and maggie/Nina was overwhelming. I think this was a movie made good by the cast. I thought Fonda and Byrne were incredible.

I wouldn't call this "dreary" as much as sometimes brutal with alot of violence. Still it's a good movie, I think besides the incredible chemistry between Byrne and Fonda the story was moving and makes you want to know what happens nest.

Harvey Keitel was positively creepy as the Cleaner! There are some really-well- for lack of a better term icky scenes in the movie but the acting is first rate and holds your attention.

There are some negatives to: to much violence that seemed kind of for shock value, after awhile it becomes a bit much:ok we get the idea. The AMMOUNT of shootings, explosions etc detracts from the wonderful acting and powerful story at hand, they could have minimized the brutality A LITTLE.

Also, Gabriel Byrne and Bridget Fonda should have had more scenes together, their chemistry is what made the movie. I understand, looking at imdb comments that this is a remake and I didn't know that before, but although this movie is very engrossing it doesn't get up to 10 status. Stil, it's defintely worth seeing if you have a strong stomach and haven't seen it.