SparkMore
n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.
Sameer Callahan
It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.
William H
Martin Blank (Cusak) goes home for his 10 year high school reunion. Tracks down his high school flame (Driver) and tries to win her heart once again. The catch is, he's a hired hit man working his last job before hanging it all up. I know right, didn't see that one coming. Wonderful comedic scenes mashed throughout with witty dialog. Nice supporting cast that add an element of entertainment I wasn't expecting. You won't be disappointed.
Tweekums
Martin Blank is a hit-man so understandably when he gets an invitation to go to his high school reunion he isn't that keen to go; it's not the sort of job one can talk about. Then he gets hired to kill somebody in his old home town he decides he might attend after all. He returns to the town of Grosse Pointe and soon starts bumping into people he knew. He also seeks out his old girlfriend, Debi, who hasn't forgotten how he disappeared the night he was supposed to take her to the Senior Prom. It is clear that his heart is no longer in his work; he hasn't even opened the dossier on his target. He isn't the only killer in town; there is also Grocer, a fellow hit-man upset that Blank won't join his new 'Hitmen's Union', a couple of government agents and an assassin who has been hired to kill Blank because he accidentally blew up somebody's dog! As the night of the school reunion approaches it is clear that the evening is going to be a bit more exciting than most people expected… especially for Debi when she learns Martin wasn't joking about his job.This film is a delightful, if somewhat amoral comedy. The central concept is rather fun as it provides some decent action, plenty of laughs and even a romance. John Cusack does a fine job as Martin, making him likable despite what we see him doing and Minnie Driver impresses as Debi. Dan Aykroyd provides laughs in just about every scene he appears in, as Grocer. There are also nice turns from Joan Cusack as Martin's secretary and Alan Arkin as his reluctant psychiatrist. The film may be set in the nineties but the 'ten year reunion' provides the perfect excuse for a solid eighties soundtrack. Given the nature of the film there is inevitably a fair about of violence; most of it isn't too disturbing, some is actually quite funny… the only disturbing moment is when a character is killed with a pen. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to anybody looking for a good black comedy.
Scarecrow-88
A professional hit-man named Martin Blank (John Cusack) returns home on a mission to take out a human target, but because of a "snafu" involving the accidental death of a dog he has a hit on him! So Martin returns to the home town, finding himself falling back in love with the girl he didn't take to the prom, Debi Newberry (Minnie Driver). Debi has obviously held a grudge for ten years considering she waited for him and he didn't show. But they make an immediate spark even if she gives him a hard time during her radio show, located in the heart of Grosse Pointe, Michigan's little town. Meanwhile, Martin attempts to avoid a fellow hit-man who wants him to join a type of "assassin's union" (Dan Ackroyd), two government CIA agents (Hank Azaria and K Todd Freeman) waiting for him to commit a crime so they can officially shoot him, and an determined "ghost assassin" who will stop at nothing to put bullet in him (Benny Urquidez). Oh, and being that it has been ten years, there's a class reunion coming up that Martin would like to take Debi to. You have Alan Arkin as Martin's therapist (more than a little ill-at-ease that his client is a paid murderer), Jeremy Piven as a real estate agent pal of Martin's from high school who just wants Jenny to recognize he's right in front of her, Joan Cusack as Martin's secretary/information gatherer, and Mitchell Ryan as Debi's father who seems to have rubbed a few folks the wrong way (the hit Martin is hired for is on him!) within an impressive ensemble.Those who come away from this movie comment on its screenplay and the absurd nature of how the violence of hit-man employment finds its way into the everyday life in Smalltown USA. I think the chemistry between Cusack and Driver is another major factor in its cult status. They together are like an operatic rhythmic section with the hip dialogue substituting an orchestral choir…they almost finish each other's sentences and share exchanges that communicate an affection and attraction certainly unavoidable. Not that Martin wants to avoid how he feels about Debi…it is the whole problem with Martin being a hit-man. Yeah, that could serve as a major bone of contention for any relationship going forward. There's the scene where Debi finds Martin right after he defends himself successfully against the ghost assassin, having just stabbed the guy in the neck with an ink pen! Yeah, not exactly how Martin wanted to progress their romance! Oh and the whole ordeal at the end where Martin must defend her father against hit men led by Ackroyd is one for the books! Much like he does with Driver, Cusack seems to really gel well with Piven who has some good scenes as the awestruck pal who has been curious about where his friend has been for ten years. The reunion is a hoot, with the 80s songs and returning class of adults, reintroduced to each other (opening old wounds, learning that not much has changed, or realizing that even after ten years some are better off than others), many the same as always and just picking up where they left off, having not changed all that much. Cusack trying to find a way to earn Debi's good graces while explaining his profession to her (this after killing the assassin, with Piven helping him burn the body in the high school oven in the basement, returning to his hotel room!) while she responds in horror is easily my favorite scene. His wide eyes, hair standing high off his head, and dazed and confused expression as Driver dismisses him with, "You can't have me" captures that insane moment of openness that leaves him seemingly confronting the worst kind of loss…so close to love yet his past and present could derail such potential for true happiness. The bedroom scene where Driver allows Cusack to come in, asking to be lifted in the air by his legs, is an example of the film's spirited spontaneity. Cusack trying to avoid talking about what he did to Driver during her radio broadcast is another example of that in-the-moment confrontation of unresolved issues he was responsible for…his reactions when she insists on making him uncomfortable is priceless. The guns going off adds a rather jarring edge to comedy. Another Cusack gem. Jenna Elfman in a neck brace is such a hilarious nod to Joan in Sixteen Candles…us 80s kids totally cherish such nods.
vostf
The pun in the movie title says it all: Grosse Pointe Blank is a brat movie, a movie students could have written (and shot for a portion of the budget) as a joke and a tribute to their teenage years.Basically the dumb thing that cries "mediocre student joke" here is the discrepancy between reality and fantasy. If you're seriously about to make the best movie possible, you have to choose: to spoof or not to spoof. Spoof comedy is OK as long as everything is a joke and that it runs at Mach 3.9; conversely a serious hit-man drama/thriller is OK as long as you stay the course.Spoof is already aiming at the lowest hurdle, but when you just spoof up an otherwise "straight" drama/thriller/romcom... (you name it) that is just blatantly incompetent. Cusack's fans and lenient teenage souls amongst IMDb reviewers rank this movie high yet the average reviewer is bound to be bored by the tone skids, the "funky violence" shootings that bury the attempt to tell a clever story about an isolated hit-man and a rush of nostalgia. Those shootings were gross and plundered a storyline which already verged to much on the spoofy side (cf. Blank's contracts before leaving for Grosse Pointe).
