Point Blank (1967) Directed by: John Boorman The film features Lee Marvin in one of his finest cinematic roles. Marvin plays Walker, a silent and haunted man who was doublecrossed by his partner, Mal Reese (John Vernon). The film opens at the cold concrete structure of the abandoned Alcatraz prison at night as Walker, Reese, and Walker's wife, Lynne (Sharon Acker) wait for the "drop at the rock." The drop goes bad and Reese shoots Walker twice in a prison cell, leaving him for dead. Not only does Reese shoot Walker, he takes his share of the money and his wife. Steal a man's wife and his loot, you better watch your back. Walker is far from dead, and he's hell bent on revenge after a cold swim through San Francisco Bay with two bullet wounds in him. This setups the film which turns out to be director John Boorman's masterpiece. Boorman makes this movie so stylish with his avant garde filming technique. Point Blank mixes 1960s art house cinema with old school Gangster films for its look. The first twenty minutes of the film deals primarily with flashbacks and the overlapping of past and present time elements in which Walker finds his wife Lynne, and starts his manhunt for Reese and his $93,000. We see how Walker and his wife met, and flashbacks of his once trusted bond with Mal Reese. Boorman uses long moments of silence in the first part of the film, and occasionally throughout the rest of the film. This lets the viewer, more than anything, in on Walker's train of thought with the way he paces the room and stares blankly in silence. It's a very effective technique. The hunt for Reese encompasses the middle half of the film. Walker roughs up several thugs and dirty rats, each time putting the pieces together on where to find Reese by pounding it out of someone. He ends up connecting with his ex-wife's sister, Chris (Angie Dickinson), who just happens to be a lust object of Mal Reese. Acting as a Trojan horse, Chris seduces Mal in his penthouse as Walker smoothly works his way up the highly secure hotel. Chris tells Walker before the setup, "There will be a lot of trouble getting in, but you'll never get out." You can see Walker's thirst for revenge become stronger when he hears this. Walker not only wants his money, but he wants sweet, cold revenge. He gets it as he tosses Reese off the top of the hotel. After killing Reese, Walker traces the root of his money to several other big wigs. Nobody wants to pay Walker, and no one takes him seriously until he gets violent. This is where the hardass that is Lee Marvin comes in real handy. Nobody else serves up a plateful of ultra-violence like Lee Marvin. Marvin gives Walker a pure brute mentality, while at the same time making him appear collected. In one of the film's most memorable scenes, Chris starts punching and slapping Walker in anger. She smacks him several dozen times while Walker just stands there staring at her. He never once changes his stance or facial expression as she eventually falls to the ground in exhaustion. Walker walks over to the couch, turns on the television, and for the first time in the film, gives off the persona of being relaxed. This is pure cinema. Walker finally catches up with Brewster, (Carroll O'Connor), the man at the top of the organization that owes him money, at his home office. After smashing the bodyguard in the head with the butt of his gun, Walker puts the pressure on Brewster. Brewster tells Walker "I'm not gonna give you any money, and nobody else is." Walker answers with the line he's been saying the entire film, but one that still has power to it: "Somebody's got to pay." And somebody does. The film ends where it started, on the cold stone grounds of Alcatraz. The ending of Point Blank is pure film noir in its style and approach, leaving quite an impact. Just recently, someone actually had the nerve to try to remake Point Blank. The film was Payback, and the star was Mel Gibson. I didn't see the remake, because I knew not to. You can't hold anything up against this film. Another film recently that shadows Point Blank is The Limey, which has a different plot, but basically follows the same story of revenge. The Limey is a very fine film, and is on the same level of Point Blank. I've found it is very hard to find a copy of Point Blank in video stores, which might make it hard to see. It is a shame, because it is one of the finer films of the 1960s. Films rarely get made like this anymore. Point Blank is a film that deserves to be seen, and garnish more attention.
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