Nurse-in-training Samuel Pierret (Gilles Lellouche) inadvertently save the life of noted criminal Hugo Sartet (Roschdy Zem) after a late-night murder attempt goes foul. The next morning, he is knocked unconscious in his home and his extremely pregnant wife Nadia (Elena Anaya) is kidnapped. He is given an ultimatum: sneak Hugo out of the hospital and bring him safely to dilapidated meat packing plant or else Nadia will be shot.

CRITIQUE

That’s the fiery and visceral setup to Point Blank, the latest film from acclaimed French filmmaker Fred Cavaye (Anything for Her, remade in the U.S. as The Next Three Days), and to put it simply it’s as fantastic a one as any thriller released domestically in 2011 has had to offer. The movie literally gets a running start and proceeds to only increase in speed and intensity from there, having an everyman feel making the central narrative all the more effective.

The plot is incredibly dense and complicated considering the relatively simplistic synopsis. There are twists and turns galore involving underground criminals, shady business leaders and dirty police officers. It all culminates in a dingy station under siege, Samuel and Hugo forced to team together in an effort to find an incriminating video log as well as save Nadia from a forced exit out a tenth story window. It’s intense and exciting in all the ways that count, and while the ultimate ending isn’t exactly a surprise getting there is such fun the lack of originality is hardly the problem it arguably should be.

I like how Cavaye sets up characters and situations that on the surface are familiar but in the end become anything put, pulling the rug out on the viewer more often than not. Great performances abound, Lellouche and Zern anchoring things rather solidly, but it is Gérard Lanvin, playing iron-fisted police detective Commander Werner, who makes the most indelible and permanent impression, the guy a villainous cross between Clint Eastwood and Takishi Kitano I wish the film spent a little more time with.

But the best element to Point Blank is that it does not turn Samuel into some sort of Superman, remembering that he is nothing more than a completely untrained nursing student unprepared both physically and mentally for the mayhem he’s become party to. He jumps through his hoops with believable electricity, even stopping for a moment in a secluded alley to literally throw up his lunch after one long foot chase goes on far longer than the athletically impaired husband and soon-to-be father is prepared for.

The movie is thin, doesn’t have a lot on its mind and isn’t exactly profound. It doesn’t rise the esteemed heights of classic French crime cinema like Riffi or Le Cercle Rouge. It isn’t interested in being some sort of buddy-buddy adventure like ‘80s classics Lethal Weapon or 48hrs. What it is, however, is balls to the wall adrenaline, pure sweat-stained stimulation driven by an immediately understandable motivational fury first frame to last. Point Blank is an explosively entertaining marvel impossible to dislike, and right behind 13 Assassins, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol and Attack the Block it’s the most exhilarating cinematic achievement I’ve had the good fortune to come across this year.

THE VIDEO

Point Blank is presented on a dual-layer 50GB Blu-ray with MPEG-4 AVC Video sporting 2.35:1/1080p transfer.

THE AUDIO

The movie sizzles onto Blu-ray with a French 5.1 DTS Master Audio track along with an English 5.1 DTS Master Audio one that should be avoided at all costs and includes optional English SDH and Spanish subtitles.

THE EXTRAS

Extras here include:

·         The Making of Point Blank: Behind-the-Scenes Documentary (50:00) – Quite solid making-of piece that includes a spoiler warning urging viewers to avoid watching until after they’ve watched the actual motive itself. Includes tons of on-set footage, interviews with the cast and crew and other intriguing tidbits that go way beyond the typical behind-the-scenes featurette.

·         Original Theatrical Trailer (2:04)

It’s not a lot, but the making-of doc is so good it does go a long way towards making up for the substantial lack of special features.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Point Blank may not be complicated, it may be a bit too dramatically straight-forward and obvious, but it’s still so darn exciting and entertaining little flaws like that end up not mattering much as far as the greater scheme of things are concerned. One of the better, more invigorating cinematic achievements I had the pleasure to view in all of 2011.