Point Blank (1967)

First time I saw Point Blank I thought it was an empty wank-fest. Maybe it didn't appeal to me because I saw it on a cheap VHS tape rented from Movies-R-Us in the 90s. But along comes TCM and I got to see it in its widescreen format. Then I saw it again. And again. And again. Each time around there's something more to discover, even though on the surface it is a spare, lean revenge drama. There's the cinematography. The sound. The color choices. Everyone mentons Marvin's performance, sure, but Dickinson, my goodness in that sweater dress in John Vernon's apartment, and the way she wails on Marvin's chest until she falls down exhausted. Keean Wynn, surely one of Hollywood's all-time most versatile character actors, showing up every 15 minutes or so to add a layer of creepy tension. This is a movie with zero good guys but innumerable gripping performances. One day I might even have watched it enough times to figure out the subtext, but for now it's just one great movie in what I call American movie-making's greatest decade between Bonnie & Clyde (released nearly simultaneously to Point Blank) and Jaws.

Lesson one, don't mess with Lee Marvin. This dude is bad, and ice cold. After getting stabbed in the back (well, actually, shot in the chest) and left for dead, he pursues the money that was owed to him up the chain in an organized crime syndicate. In one fight, he hammers a guy on the ground in the groin. When he's shot at in an underground garage, he calmly takes a couple of steps back behind a pillar, and allows the police to take care of the shooter. He's so direct and menacing in making it clear he's going to be paid, or he's going to kill you. He's a terrific tough guy, and turns in an excellent performance.The film was entertaining, but I'm not sure it ever really broke out of the usual Hollywood formula of a very brave, very tough guy taking on an unseen web of corruption. I was reminded of The Big Heat (1953), which ironically also starred Lee Marvin, and there are many others. After you've heard the premise, you can imagine what's going to happen, and it's got a few plot holes as well. On the other hand, it's well made within this genre, with director John Boorman filming at Alcatraz, using a gritty, stark style, and employing mini-flashbacks to realistically show Marvin's state of mind. John Vernon, ubiquitous bad guy from this era, is solid, and it was nice to see Angie Dickinson, particularly in the scene where she gets mischievous and annoys Marvin. The bit with her wailing away at him while he stands there impassively fit well and made me smile. Less successful is Carroll O'Connor, who is a little harder to believe in the few scenes he has, though it was interesting to see him in role other than Archie Bunker. Overall, a good action 60's action film, but probably a little over-hyped, with the gushings of critic David Thomson leading the way. I'd give a slight edge to Bullitt, from the following year, if you have a choice.

Point Blank is the movie Playback's predecessor. Porter for Walker! Gibson for Marvin! The premise of the story is exact. Marvin gets robbed, left for dead and wants his money back. The Porter/Walker characters are excellent, as harden robbers who are all so professional. The mechanics of the both stories are exciting to watch. Regrettably Point Blank has lulls. Angie Dickinson's character slows and or drags the story. The 60's flashbacks direction kills the tempo. Payback has better double cross side stories. The Chinese mob, and dirty cops side stories brought Payback to a higher level than Point Blank's side story. John Vernon aka Mal Reese character is good, but the Gregg Henry, Val Resnick, character put slime to a new art form. Point Blank had a statement ending and come across dull!

Lee Marvin stars in this stylish neo-noir, Point Blank, with a European sensibility, directed by John Boorman. The film also stars Angie Dickinson, Keenan Wynn, John Vernon, Lloyd Bochner, Carroll O'Connor, and Sharon Acker. This movie and Payback are based on the same book, "Hunter." Mal Reese (John Vernon) needs money to pay organized crime bosses and talks his friend Walker (Marvin) to help him steal it. However, the money, if split, isn't enough for him to make his payment. Reese steals it all and shoots Walker, believing that he killed him.Walker isn't dead, and he wants his money. We don't know how much time has passed, but it seems like it's at least a couple of years. His wife (Acker) cheated on him with Mal after Walker was shot, so he visits her. But she and Mal are no longer together.He visits Chris (Dickinson), his wife's sister, and then finally reaches Reese. Reese isn't the last stop on the food chain, though. In order to get his money, Walker has to go up the line of gangsters. He's good with a gun and plenty sick of waiting.This is a film without a ton of dialogue and with a very internal performance by Lee Marvin. The editing is especially crisp - we get very tiny flashbacks, and in the end, we wonder if this was a dream he has while in prison or if it all really happened.The casting is unusual as it is populated with people who worked primarily in television - Vernon and Bochner were practically mainstays on shows like Mission: Impossible, Sharon Acker was a TV actress, and Carroll O'Connor's great fame came in television.There is a starkness about this film, in an urban setting of cement lacking in much personality. Through it all, there's Marvin, quietly racking up the body count. In Payback, Mel Gibson is much more overt, and the violence is stronger.This isn't made like other films, and I have to think, even though it came out at the same time as Bonnie & Clyde, that it had some influence.