Grosse Pointe Blank (1997) - IMDb IMDb There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Error Martin Blank is a professional assassin. He is sent on a mission to a small Detroit suburb, Grosse Pointe, and, by coincidence, his ten-year high school reunion party is taking place there at the same time. Director: From $2.99 (SD) on Amazon Video ON DISC a list of 40 titles created 09 Jun 2012 a list of 38 titles created 25 Jul 2013 a list of 40 titles created 14 Sep 2014 a list of 38 titles created 27 Mar 2015 a list of 43 titles created 11 months ago Title: Grosse Pointe Blank (1997) 7.4/10 Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin.

2 wins & 6 nominations. See more awards » Videos Rob, a record store owner and compulsive list maker, recounts his top five breakups, including the one in progress. Director: Stephen Frears A teenager has to deal with his girlfriend dumping him among family crises, homicidal paper boys, and a rival skier. Director: Savage Steve Holland A college student plans a cross-country trip to get laid, but ends up traveling with a young woman. They hate each other, so naturally... Director: Rob Reiner A noble underachiever and a beautiful valedictorian fall in love the summer before she goes off to college. Director: Cameron Crowe A feud develops between two air traffic controllers: one cocky and determined while the other is restrained and laidback, which inevitably affects their lives. Director: Mike Newell Edit Storyline Martin Blank is a freelance hitman who starts to develop a conscience, which causes him to muff a couple of routine assignments. On the advice of his secretary and his psychiatrist, he attends his 10th year High School reunion in Grosse Pointe, Michigan (a Detroit suburb where he's also contracted to kill someone).

Hot on his tail are a couple of over-enthusiastic federal agents, another assassin who wants to kill him, and Grocer, an assassin who wants him to join an "Assassin's Union." Written by Afterburner <aburner@erols.com> Even A Hit Man Deserves A Second Shot! See more » Genres: Rated R for strong violence, language and some drug content | See all certifications » Parents Guide: 11 April 1997 (USA) See more » Also Known As: $6,870,397 (USA) (11 April 1997) Gross: Did You Know? Trivia The Brand and Flavor of gum that Martin takes while being attacked at the Ultimart is Trident, Original flavor. See more » Goofs During the introducing shots of Grosse Pointe there is a shot of a boat, you can see the helicopter blades on the very top of the screen. See more » Quotes Marty : Why are you so interested in me going to my high school reunion? Marcella : I just find it amusing that you came from somewhere. Courtesy of Warner Bros. Records Inc.

By Arrangement with Warner Special Products (Brighton; England) – See all my reviews I love this film! Starring John Cusack, England's patriotically-named Minnie Driver, plus Dan Ackroyd, Alan Arkin & Joan Cusack, Grosse Pointe Blank' is funny, clever, action-packed & has a great eighties soundtrack. John Cusack - as the film's protagonist Martin Blank - is superb, & virtually carries the whole movie. He plays an assassin who started out working for the U.S. Government but has now gone freelance, having managed to rationalise his cold-blooded killing. He is an amoral, sharp, ruthless killer, but also vulnerably human, neurotic, conscience-ridden, tender & romantic. Despite these ostensibly impossible personality contradictions, you never once question that his character is real, you can't help but like the guy, & never stop hoping that things work out for him. Pulling this off is a remarkable achievement & Cusack does it brilliantly. He reluctantly accepts a commission that takes him back to his hometown, Grosse Pointe, coincidentally at exactly the same time as his old High School reunion.

While there he visits his childhood sweetheart, local DJ Debi (Driver), for the first time in 10 years  when in a fit of madness he had ditched her on their prom night to run off & join the army. As neither she nor anyone else had heard anything from him since then, her feelings about this are understandably rather mixed! Blank visits his institutionalised Mum & the family home, which to his great distress is now an Ultimart', & eventually convinces Debi to go with him to the reunion. His reacquaintances with his former schoolmates are very funny & even quite touching, & are sure to strike a chord with anyone who's ever been to one of those things. Meanwhile various other assassins, chief of which is Blank's rival Grocer (Ackroyd  brilliant as ever) are out to kill him. Their reasons are many & varied  mainly involving an Assassin's union', secret Government operations & a dead dog (yes, really!). As you can probably guess, these are not the sort of things that are conducive to a successful High School reunion, & mayhem ensues.

Grosse Pointe Blank' is extremely funny, full of deadpan, twisted humour - mainly from Cusack, but ably supported by Ackroyd & Arkin. I particularly liked the running gag of Blank's response to the inevitable "what do you do for a living?" question: a completely matter-of-fact "professional killer", which of course not one person takes seriously. I also loved the hilariously neurotic exchanges between Blank & his hounded shrink (Arkin), who ends every conversation with "Don't kill anyone!" There's also a lovely little story involving a pen... The film is also a great action flick - it has some brilliantly choreographed & executed gunfight & hand-to-hand fight sequences  in fact some of the best I've ever seen. Cusack looks, or at least is made to look, like a pretty decent athlete himself. The finale is a real tour-de-force, & for me sums up the movie itself: a great gunfight, clever & hilariously funny. This film is wonderful from start to finish  if you haven't done so already, see it now! 101 of 113 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

Yes Super Reviewer ½ This sick, twisted little comedy is sweet in many ways and yet demented in all the ways that matter. The premise revolves around John Cusack as a hit man (so believable) going back to his ten year reunion in Michigan, and he gets back together with his ex-girlfriend. I will say that the chemistry between Cusack and Driver is off the charts, and in the end I actually found them to be a very cute couple. Though there's an evolution for Cusack's character, I still didn't see the awe factor in the grand romantic gesture. He is a trained, government employed killer! I don't want quirky, doe-eyed Driver ending up with someone who will be hunted down later in life, their happy ending nothing but a far off mirage in the dust! When it plays into its dark humor, Cusack works incredibly well as an everyman. Still, trying to get us, the audience, to sympathize with you when you've killed how many hundreds of people? That's stretching my imagination a little too thin. Spencer S.

Super Reviewer ½ This pet project for star, co-writer, and producer John Cusack follows Martin Blank- a former CIA operative turned freelance assassin. He's generally good at his job, and it pays well, but lately his game has been a bit off, and he's starting to tire of it. Following the advice of his secretary and his nervous psychiatrist, he is urged to take a final job in his old hometown of Grosse Pointe, Michigan. Incidentally, the time of the job coincides with his 10 year high school reunion, and, while he's not exactly excited about it, this gives him the opportunity to tie up loose ends with his past, namely reconciling with his school love whom he stood up on prom night and hasn't seen since. On top of all of that, he's got people out to kill him, and is being hounded by his persistent arch rival hitman who has an enticing business offer, and won't take no for an answer. Man, for a romantic action comedy, that sure is one hefty plot! Thankfully the film goes down quite easy, and doesn't end up being quite as laborious and complicated as I've no doubt made it sound.

It's breezy, funny (sometimes downright hilarious), quite charming, and feverishly entertaining. Yeah, there's a lot of cliched stuff going on here, but it blends together pretty decently, even though the film could have probably found a way to end that didn't involve delving into a typical action movie climax. It does have a quite snazzy soundtrack though, and the score was done by Joe Strummer, so that's all awesome. John Cusack delivers a typically solid performance full of his trademark mix of charm, likability, and neuroses. His sister Joan is a scene stealing riot as the secretary, Alan Arkin is a lot of fun as the psychiatrist, Dan Aykroyd is wickedly funny as Martin's rival, and then finally we have Minnie Driver as the old flame Debi. A lot of people seem to not like her, but I think she's a decent actress, fairly attractive, and does decently here as the spurned woman with an understandable grudge. The film really isn't groundbreaking, but it is quite well played and never dull. It's primarily a comedy, but the action is done decently too, with my favorite setpiece being the amazingly funny shootout at a convenience store.

Overall, this is a nice little entertaining gem. It's definitely a quirky 90s movie, and though it is flawed, it's still an enjoyable ride. Chris Weber John Cusack at his best. One of the best actors of his generation. John Manard Grosse Pointe Blank | Disney Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia [Source] Grosse Pointe Blank is a 1997 American comedy film, directed by George Armitage, and starring John Cusack, Minnie Driver , Alan Arkin , and Dan Aykroyd . The film received positive reviews from critics. The soundtrack, produced by Joe Strummer, features mainly independent music from the 1980s. Contents [ show ] Plot Professional assassin Martin Q. Blank (John Cusack) finds himself depressed, irritable and dissatisfied with his work. A major irritant is his chief rival Grocer (Dan Aykroyd), whose effort to cartelize the hitman business puts him at potentially lethal odds with the solitary Martin. Following a botched contract, Martin receives an invitation to his class of 10-year high school reunion in his home town of Grosse Pointe, Michigan.

Initially reluctant to attend, he is pressured into it by both his therapist ( Alan Arkin ) and his secretary ( Joan Cusack ). She books him a contract in Michigan that coincides with the reunion, ostensibly to smooth things over with the client whose contract was botched. Upon arriving in Grosse Pointe, Martin seeks out his high school sweetheart Debi Newberry ( Minnie Driver ), now a radio DJ, whom Martin had abandoned on prom night to enlist in the Army. While Debi's visit suggests hope for redemption, Martin's depression is only deepened by visits to his demented mother, his alcoholic father's grave, and the site of his childhood home where a convenience store now stands. Reconnecting with friends like Paul (Jeremy Piven) (who brokered the sale of his childhood home) is likewise depressing, as many have seemingly become well adjusted adults with normal jobs. When asked about his own livelihood, Martin readily reveals that he is a professional killer, a response taken as a joke by everyone he meets.

Meanwhile Martin is being stalked by fellow hitmen Grocer and Felix LaPoubelle (Benny Urquidez), a Basque former terrorist who is hired to kill Martin as revenge for one of his past jobs, and attempts to do so in the convenience store that stands in place of his childhood home. He is also tailed by two National Security Agency agents (Hank Azaria and K. Todd Freeman) who were tipped off to Martin's contract by Grocer. Despite these dangers, Martin remains distracted by his desire to make amends with Debi and fails to open the background dossier on his prospective target. At the reunion, Martin mingles with his former classmates, one of whom hands him her toddler. Martin then experiences an existential transformation, recognizing that his recent dissatisfaction with his work and his amends with Debi signify an opportunity to change his life. Moments later, while exploring the halls, Martin is attacked by LaPoubelle, whom he kills in self-defense. Debi stumbles upon the scene and, horrified to find that Martin was not joking about his work after all, flees the reunion.

Paul arrives only moments later to find Martin, who corrals him into helping to dispose of LaPoubelle's body in the school furnace. Realizing that his friend was not joking about his profession, Paul walks away from Martin in disgust after they dispose of LaPoubelle. Later Debi confronts Martin in his hotel room, where he reveals that psychological testing in the Army revealed he was suited to work as a hitman for the CIA; after leaving the CIA, he went into business for himself. His rationalizations for his work only horrify Debi even more; she rejects his attempts at reconciliation, and storms out. Martin, concluding that it is futile to attempt to change his life, fires his psychiatrist over the phone and finally opens the dossier containing the details of the contract that brought him to Grosse Pointe. He is startled to find that the target is Bart Newberry (Mitchell Ryan), Debi's father, who is scheduled to testify against Martin's client. Grocer decides to kill Bart himself to impress Martin's client. Martin abandons the contract and rescues Bart from certain death, speeding him to the Newberry house and holing up inside, narrowly ahead of Grocer and his team of mercenaries.

During the siege, Martin finally reveals that he stood Debi up on prom night to enlist in the Army to channel his strong homicidal urges away from his family and friends. Martin gradually kills the team of mercenaries. During a tense standoff between Martin and Grocer, the NSA agents enter the fight, where they are gunned down by Grocer and Martin. By this point, Martin has run out of ammunition, and when Grocer tries to trick him by "selling" him a weapon for $100,000, Martin surprises him by smashing a TV over his head and killing him. Wounded and exhausted, Martin then proposes marriage to Debi. Debi, shell-shocked from the day's events, does not respond, although her father readily gives his blessing. The film ends with Debi and Martin speeding out of Grosse Pointe together. Cast Production Grosse Pointe is an upscale suburb of Detroit, Michigan. The scene where Martin is attacked by LaPoubelle while exploring the halls of his old high school was filmed at Reseda High School in the San Fernando Valley. Only the aerial footage (of Lakeshore Drive) was actually shot in Grosse Pointe.

The city of Grosse Pointe Farms did not allow the filmmakers to use any shots of Grosse Pointe South High School for the movie due to the presence of alcohol in the reunion scenes. Nor was any other part of the city filmed. Large portions of the film were shot in Monrovia, California. Casting Benny Urquidez, who plays LaPoubelle, is mentioned in Say Anything, in which Lloyd Dobler (Cusack), an aspiring kickboxer, cited Urquidez among famous kickboxers. As a result of his role in Say Anything, Cusack became a fan of kickboxing as well as a student of Urquidez. Cusack was responsible for casting his instructor in Grosse Pointe Blank. The film features four of the five Cusack siblings: John stars as Martin; Joan as Marcella, Martin's secretary; Ann as Amy, the drunk girl in the Hippo Club; and Bill as the waiter who serves them in the same club. The fifth sibling, Susie, is not primarily an actress.

Reception Critical response Review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a normalized score of 78% based on 65 reviews, and declared it "Certified Fresh". Metacritic gave the film a weighted average score of 76% based on 27 reviews. Roger Ebert gave the film 2.5 stars out of 4. He praised the chemistry between the lead actors and enjoyed the dialogue, but considered it a near-miss, wishing for a wittier, more clever ending. Box office The film earned an estimated $6,870,397 in its opening weekend, ranking #4 at the box office. It went on to earn $28,084,357 in the United States. Soundtrack The score for Grosse Pointe Blank was composed by Joe Strummer, formerly of The Clash, and includes two songs from The Clash, "Rudie Can't Fail" (from the album London Calling) and their cover version of Willi Williams' "Armagideon Time".

In addition to The Clash, the tracks featured are a mix of popular 1980s punk rock, ska, and New Wave from such bands as Violent Femmes, Echo & the Bunnymen, The Specials, The Jam, The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and a-ha. The soundtrack album reached #31 on the Billboard 200 chart, prompting the release of a second volume of songs from the film. While most songs played throughout the film (especially at the reunion) recorded about the time of the students' graduation (circa 1986), several songs are later: The Guns N' Roses version of Paul McCartney's "Live and Let Die" was recorded in 1991. "El Matador", playing during the dance scene at the reunion, was released by Los Fabulosos Cadillacs in 1993. The Specials' version of "Pressure Drop" was recorded in 1996. The song was first recorded by Toots and the Maytals in 1969.

Several songs in the film are not featured on the soundtrack albums, released on March 13, 1997 and October 7, 1997 by PolyGram Records.

Volume 1 "A Message to You, Rudy" (The Specials) – 2:53 "Cities in Dust" (Siouxsie and the Banshees) – 3:49 "The Killing Moon" (Echo & the Bunnymen) – 5:44 "Monkey Gone to Heaven" (Pixies) – 2:56 "Lorca's Novena" (The Pogues) – 4:35 "Go!" (Tones on Tail) – 2:32 "Let it Whip" (Dazz Band) – 4:24 "The Dominatrix Sleeps Tonight" (Dominatrix) – 3:40 "War Cry" (Joe Strummer) – 5:58 "White Lines (Don't Don't Do It)" (Grandmaster Flash & Melle Mel) – 7:24 "Take on Me" (a-ha) – 3:46 "You're Wondering Now" (The Specials) – 2:37 Unofficial sequel According to Joan Cusack , the 2008 film War, Inc. is an informal sequel.

Both films are similar in style and theme, and both films star John as an assassin and his sister Joan as his assistant, with Dan Aykroyd in a supporting role External links Grosse Pointe Blank | Film from RadioTimes Our Score by Tom Hutchinson Named in tribute to John Boorman's cult thriller Point Blank, this inventive black comedy drama stars John Cusack as hitman Martin Blank, who returns to his home town of Grosse Pointe for a high-school reunion and another assassination. He bumps into the old flame (Minnie Driver) he jilted on prom night ten years before and discovers that conventional free-marketeers are just as ruthless as he is. Director George Armitage keeps the action smart and edgy, and there are some fine performances from a supporting cast that includes Dan Aykroyd (as a pushy fellow hitman), Alan Arkin (as Blank's reluctant shrink) and Joan Cusack. Summary A hitman takes the chance to combine his latest assassination job with a trip back to his home town for a school reunion. The occasion starts to get complicated when an old flame turns up and rekindles their lost romance - while a rival killer harasses him to join an assassins' union.

Black comedy drama, starring John Cusack, Minnie Driver, Dan Aykroyd, Joan Cusack and Alan Arkin. Cast & Crew Martin Q Blank John Cusack Debi Newberry Minnie Driver REVIEW : Grosse Pointe Blank / Top 3 Movie Hitmen - YouTube REVIEW : Grosse Pointe Blank / Top 3 Movie Hitmen Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Published on Jan 17, 2015 This week we reunite with the 1997 Hitman Gone Home dark comedy GROSSE POINTE BLANK Starring John Cusack, Minnie Driver and Dan Aykroyd. Martin Blank (Cusack) is a freelance hitman with a few emotional problems who starts to develop a conscience that ultimately effects his job..

On the advice of his secretary and his psychiatrist, he attends his 10th year High School reunion in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, a Detroit suburb where, ironically enough, he’s just been given a contracted to kill someone. Hot on his tail are a couple of over-enthusiastic federal agents, another assassin who wants wants him gone, and the leader of the “Assassin’s Union” who wants his membership or else. While the present meets the past, Martin finds himself having to relive the “uncomfortableness” of his High School memories, including an attempt at making amends with his then sweetheart, whom he abandoned on prom night in order to join the army. Considered my many to be a cult favorite from the late 90’s and perhaps one of Cusack’s best, the film also has a great supporting cast that includes Joan Cusack, Alan Arkin, and Jeremy Piven.

Listen to hear our take on it as well as our “Top 3 Movie Hitmen” Category Grosse Pointe Blank Reviews & Ratings - IMDb IMDb 101 out of 113 people found the following review useful: Firing Blanks & a little romance from Brighton; England 17 April 2000 I love this film! Starring John Cusack, England's patriotically-named Minnie Driver, plus Dan Ackroyd, Alan Arkin & Joan Cusack, Grosse Pointe Blank' is funny, clever, action-packed & has a great eighties soundtrack. John Cusack - as the film's protagonist Martin Blank - is superb, & virtually carries the whole movie. He plays an assassin who started out working for the U.S. Government but has now gone freelance, having managed to rationalise his cold-blooded killing. He is an amoral, sharp, ruthless killer, but also vulnerably human, neurotic, conscience-ridden, tender & romantic. Despite these ostensibly impossible personality contradictions, you never once question that his character is real, you can't help but like the guy, & never stop hoping that things work out for him.

Pulling this off is a remarkable achievement & Cusack does it brilliantly. He reluctantly accepts a commission that takes him back to his hometown, Grosse Pointe, coincidentally at exactly the same time as his old High School reunion. While there he visits his childhood sweetheart, local DJ Debi (Driver), for the first time in 10 years  when in a fit of madness he had ditched her on their prom night to run off & join the army. As neither she nor anyone else had heard anything from him since then, her feelings about this are understandably rather mixed! Blank visits his institutionalised Mum & the family home, which to his great distress is now an Ultimart', & eventually convinces Debi to go with him to the reunion. His reacquaintances with his former schoolmates are very funny & even quite touching, & are sure to strike a chord with anyone who's ever been to one of those things. Meanwhile various other assassins, chief of which is Blank's rival Grocer (Ackroyd  brilliant as ever) are out to kill him.

Their reasons are many & varied  mainly involving an Assassin's union', secret Government operations & a dead dog (yes, really!). As you can probably guess, these are not the sort of things that are conducive to a successful High School reunion, & mayhem ensues. Grosse Pointe Blank' is extremely funny, full of deadpan, twisted humour - mainly from Cusack, but ably supported by Ackroyd & Arkin. I particularly liked the running gag of Blank's response to the inevitable "what do you do for a living?" question: a completely matter-of-fact "professional killer", which of course not one person takes seriously. I also loved the hilariously neurotic exchanges between Blank & his hounded shrink (Arkin), who ends every conversation with "Don't kill anyone!" There's also a lovely little story involving a pen... The film is also a great action flick - it has some brilliantly choreographed & executed gunfight & hand-to-hand fight sequences  in fact some of the best I've ever seen. Cusack looks, or at least is made to look, like a pretty decent athlete himself.

The finale is a real tour-de-force, & for me sums up the movie itself: a great gunfight, clever & hilariously funny. This film is wonderful from start to finish  if you haven't done so already, see it now! Was the above review useful to you? 84 out of 99 people found the following review useful: Consistently surprising and entertaining from Brooklyn, NY 22 February 1999 One of the complaints about movies these days, and justifiably so, is that they're predictable. This movie is not predictable, and I never thought I'd be able to say that about a movie with four credited writers. Every time you think you can guess where it's going, it throws a curve. It was also very funny, which is nice because good comedies are becoming a rare species. John Cusack continues to show what a great actor he is as hitman Martin Blank. He doesn't wink at the audience, saying, Oh look, I'm a hitman, but plays him as normal, with the right amount of misgivings and tenacity.

Minnie Driver is quite good as the woman he's still obsessed with (although she was good in GOOD WILL HUNTING, she should have been nominated for this performance), and Alan Arkin and Jeremy Piven were good, as ever, in support. The surprise, however, is Dan Aykroyd. Just when I was prepared to write him off forever, he comes through with a great performance here. The soundtrack is terrific too, avoiding the cliched 80's songs to provide a fresh, and compatible, score. Was the above review useful to you? 65 out of 80 people found the following review useful: I'm drawing a complete... from London 8 January 1999 Good movie. Particularly the part where John Cusack is using the frying pan to put his point across to the bad guy on the kitchen floor. It's hard not to belly laugh. I thought it took cues from 'Blue Velvet', with its uncommon blend of humour and ultra-violence. I read that parts of the dialogue were contributed by Cusack and a couple of [real-life] school friends, though cannot confirm this.

It's believeable though - for example when he meets the legal guy propping up the bar at the re-union. His offering of the pen, the aside that Cusack should 'read the cap' and asking to use the funny quip - 'they all seem kinda related' - must have been based on a real person. Too sad to be fiction. Minnie [cab] Driver, Joan Cusack and Dan Ackroyd personalise their performances very well. The support cast were excellent too. The music was an oddly enjoyable mix and the fight sequence with the pen was the most realistic (and exhausting) I'd seen. It was the attention to small detail which swung it in the end though. Cusack's buddy's coke-fuelled, paranoid banter was spot on ("Jenny Slater, Jenny Slater") as was the burning the fingers on the furnace, to name just two random details. The effect of this, is that they all add up to a movie which you can enjoy watching many times. And that makes it a rare gem. Was the above review useful to you?

36 out of 40 people found the following review useful: One of my favorite films from United States 6 May 2007 Some movies have a good story that is made great by the casting. This is one such film. It has a cast to die for and makes what could have been an interesting film superb. John and Joan Cusack play great characters along with Minnie Driver in a film about a hit man returning to his home town for a high school reunion. he reconnects with a lost love while competitors are trying to rub him out. There is an assortment of characters in the film: Alan Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine) as Dr. Oatman; Dan Akroyd as Blank's main competitor; Hank Azaria, K. Todd Freeman and Jeremy Piven. This film has enough laughs amid the shooting and romance to satisfy anyone. Was the above review useful to you? 40 out of 50 people found the following review useful: A '90s classic!

Author: Christopher Smith 2 June 2001 Although not nearly as popular as it deserves to be, GROSS POINTE BLANK has become an increasingly respected cult flick in the year following its theatrical release and it's not hard to see why. The movie is probably the only film on earth that is able to blend comedy, graphic violence, and romance together perfectly, which is what makes it such a classic. John Cusack is excellent as Martin Q. Blank, a hit-man who attends his ten-year high school reunion. At first he doesn't want to, but decides to go since he has a case there and he wants to see his old girlfriend Debbie (Minnie Driver) again. This dark comedy is heavy on exciting action, suspense, gunfire, laughs, and fun, but it doesn't have not quite enough character development for my taste (a bit more on how Martin became accustomed to killing would have been nice). Still, GROSSE POINTE BLANK was one of the best films of 1997 and one of the better comedies of the 1990s. There were rumors of a sequel happening for a while, though the chances of that happening are slim to none. Too bad.

Was the above review useful to you? 32 out of 39 people found the following review useful: Great Movie from United States 2 December 2007 I love this movie. Grosse Pointe Blank is smart and witty and has a stunning 1980s soundtrack. Martin Blank (Cusack) is an angst ridden international hit-man who has stopped enjoying his work. He searches for meaning in his life and returns to Grosse Pointe, Michigan for his 10th year High School reunion and one last job. Blank meets his mom, some old friends and discovers that his childhood home has been knocked down to make way for a convenience store. He ponders his life choices and has recurring dreams about Debi Newberry (Driver) the girl he stood up on Prom night. Blank's activities have attracted a collection of hit men trying to find an excuse to kill him. These include Aykroyd, two federal agents and a freelance Basque hit-man. There is a shoot-out at the end and overall the film has a large body count, but Cusack makes Blank seem like a lovable version of Jason Bourne.

The film is something of an ensemble piece with great comic performances from Alan Arkin, Joan Cusack, Jeremy Piven and Aykroyd. The film pokes fun at the loner tough guy hero featured in so many Hollywood movies. At the time of its release the story was a little unusual but Mr and Mrs Smith has since explored similar territory of rich cosmopolitan assassins trying to blend into ordinary American life. Blank spends most of the movie in pursuit of Debi. Will she forgive him? Will he have time to complete his assignment? This is my idea of a great movie. It's funny and clever and the characters are flawed but likable. Was the above review useful to you? 40 out of 61 people found the following review useful: Wonderfully fun comedy from United Kingdom 17 October 2001 About the same time as this film was made there was a spate of hitman focused comedy dramas (from Leon to Coldblooded) so this risked being viewed in the same way as these. This is strictly a comedy - there's no deep soul searching here, the analyst is also in it for comedy value.

The story is funny and lively, the soundtrack reminded us that not all 80's music was rubbish and the whole feel of the film is one that it must have been fun to make. John Cusack is excellent as the hitman, he just seems to bring the character to life and play him in a jokey way without making fun of the film, Dan Akroyd gets the best role he's had in years as the hitman trying to get Cusack to join his union, while Minnie Driver is girly and fun - the whole cast are excellent in fact! The film is not a classic by any means and many see it as a down side that it ignores any serious issues or that the film is set so far away from reality but for me this is part of the fun. Sit down, don't take it seriously and just enjoy the ride! Was the above review useful to you? 25 out of 35 people found the following review useful: A Nutshell Review: Grosse Pointe Blank (1997) from Singapore 8 January 2006 I've keeping my run of John Cusack movies with each trip to the library.

Not that I'm on the lookout for his old movies deliberately, it just happens. Not that I'm complaining, but he's always been one of the few who play characters so diverse, it's almost impossible to stereotype him. He's fast becoming one of my favorite actors, besides Morgan Freeman, and Denzel Washington, amongst others. School reunions are one of those social events that you either love, or loathe. If you're a somebody back then, and are sort of somebody right now, it presents to you an opportunity to brag about it. If you're cruising along fine, then you're probably curious about how others are doing, and want to take stock. If you're a nobody then, or now, then you'll probably not want to attend at all. John Cusack plays Martin Blank, a professional hit-man whose at the crossroads of that decision. 10 years ago, he abandoned his date for the prom, and never made contact ever since. Also, he's wondering how he could possibly tell anyone about his current profession. He's also finding that life is becoming meaningless, and is seeking for something to lift him up from the doldrums.

His secretary (played by real life sister Joan Cusack - there are a total of 4 Cusack siblings in this movie) arranges a perfect opportunity for him to mesh work and play, and packs him off back to Grosse Pointe. Naturally he seeks out his old flame Debi Newberry (Minnie Driver), and tries his best to make amends by offering to go to the reunion with her. However, his nemesis and hit-man rival Grocer, played to hilarity by Dan Ackroyd, is mad at Blank for not wanting to join up in his union, and he wants to bump Blank off. He's provided with some of the best dialog, and banters with Cusack so well, you just beg for more of their scenes together. It's a quirky movie (aren't most of Cusack's movies) which is thoroughly enjoyable with its excellent selection of songs, wonderful dialog, and delightful action toward the end. Watch out too for a short appearance by Jenna Elfman! The Code 1 DVD is nothing to shout about - the bare bones version. Was the above review useful to you?

21 out of 33 people found the following review useful: Hilariously Light and Fluffy, Yet Dark Comedy from United States 21 August 2006 Sometimes one bad apple ruins the whole thing. One drop of taint makes the best things in life go bad. An this movie was full of potential taint. It could have been Minnie Driver (the weak point of "Good Will Hunting"). It could have been Dan Ackroyd (whose comedic routines can go from great in "Ghostbusters" to stupid in "Coneheads"). Or maybe it could even have been the fact the writers and director really have no prior experience in making a big film. But the potential taint never happened and this film came out almost flawless. Minnie Driver was given such a small role that her poor acting and unbelievable character (which, I guess isn't her fault) could be overlooked and placed in the margin. Not her worst performance, but not her best (which might be "Beautiful"). Dan Ackroyd was superb, actually presenting us one of the funnier yet darker villains in cinematic history. His delivery of Bible verses while shooting willy-nilly through a target's house? Diabolical!

The directing was respectable and the writing was spot-on. Some great dialog between the characters and the story could not be beat. Seriously. The Cusacks? Oh my! John Cusack is a winner in everything he's ever done (besides maybe "One Crazy Summer"). This movie is one of his best, almost as memorable as "Say Anything" (though that one is flatly unbeatable). Joan Cusack was also pretty cool as a receptionist and her rapport with John is clear and shines in the film. I'm not buying a phone from her, though. And John's sparring with his kickboxing instructor? Those lessons have paid off! Jeremy Piven? Stupendous, as good if not better than his "Chasing Liberty" role. Having starred in 10 films with John Cusack, this is probably their best together. There are so many more praises I could heap on this movie, but I shouldn't have to. If you want to see a funny, quirky and well-crafted tale about a professional hit-man and a high school reunion, this is your film of choice.

You might rent "Michelle and Romy", but not only will you not get the hit men, but you'll get a piece of dog doo, as well. So choose wisely. Was the above review useful to you? 13 out of 19 people found the following review useful: Just not funny 13 May 2003 *** This review may contain spoilers *** What a confused movie this is. Is it a comedy? A Pulp Fiction wannabe? A John Hughes Eighties High School movie? It tries to be all three, but in doing that it fails to be what it needs to be: a good movie. It's very Pulp Fiction-ish in its use of "witty banter during extreme gunplay." The John Hughes element is obvious...Cusack could even be the same character from Better Off Dead ten years later. In fact, THAT would have been funny, but I digress. If it's an action movie, I think Cusack and Aykroyd are miscast. Maybe not Cusack so much, but Aykroyd just sucks.

As in most action movies, the characters use their guns like hoses and only reload after 50 shots have been fired from a pistol that holds 10 bullets. The romance is not convincing. There's just no chemistry between Driver and Cusack, and not much time is spent on them. Nor is enough time spent with Cusack's old school friends and enemies, which could have been fodder for a better movie. Particularly shocking is the violence in this supposed comedy. (SPOILERS) Cusack's encounter with the "ghoul" in the school ends disturbingly, in my opinion. And I have no problem with violence...Pulp Fiction was great, but of course it wasn't marketing itself as a comedy! And the gunning down of the two NSA agents at the end just makes no sense and didn't seem to even fit with where the movie was supposed to go. The movie could have been FUNNY if Cusack's character was a bumbling hitman, not an expert assassin. But hey, that's just my opinion. Was the above review useful to you? Page 1 of 30: Images - Grosse Pointe Blank for Grosse Pointe Blank .

[rating: 1 of 4 stars] Grosse Pointe Blank tells the story of a hit man, Martin Q. Blank (played by John Cusack). By profession, he's a cold-blooded killer, but he doesn't think his job says anything about who he really is. However, he's struggling with an empty feeling that leads him into counseling sessions with a psychiatrist, Dr. Oatman (played by Alan Arkin). Once Dr. Oatman finds out Martin is a hired killer, he doesn't want him in his office. When Martin asks whether he should go to his ten-year high school reunion, Dr. Oatman fires back, "Go back to your high school reunion: just try not to kill anybody while you're there." John Cusack in Grosse Pointe Blank. (©1997 Hollywood Pictures Company. All rights reserved.) This is the setup for a whimsical, optimistic comedy that is the equivalent of a super-light soufflé. Don't look for anything substantial in Grosse Pointe Blank.

Served up by the same producing team (Susan Arnold and Donna Roth) responsible for Benny and Joon, Grosse Pointe Blank suggests that a hit man can be just like anyone else. The guy might be a hired assassin, but he's really no different than the guy behind the counter at QuickiMart. Hmm . . . well, if you can buy that notion, you might enjoy this movie. But if that sounds like a specious premise, you might have a tough time swallowing this yarn. Pulp Fiction also gave us a hit man as a likable central character, but Vincent Vega (John Travolta) was balanced by Jules (Samuel L. Jackson), who gave his victims fire-and-brimstone lectures before pulling the trigger. Grosse Pointe Blank only gives us the innocent, baby-faced visage of John Cusack. And Cusack is in way over his head. With Vincent Vega in Pulp Fiction, we got a charming character, but he also was a bit slow (e.g. he had been to Paris but now he only talks about their hamburgers). Cusack is also a charmer, but there's no down side to his character.

He's a good guy who just happens to kill people as his vocation. That means his character has no depth, no past. The filmmakers act as if they actually believe, like Martin Q. Blank, that his vocation says nothing about his character. Yeah, it makes him suffer a spiritual crisis. But he's still essentially a good guy. Hmm . . . John Cusack and Minnie Driver in Grosse Pointe Blank. (©1997 Hollywood Pictures Company. All rights reserved.) Without a "Jules" to play against, Cusack drifts in a void. Dan Aykroyd plays a competing hit man, but once again, we get a character with little bite. Aykroyd, likewise, is simply a man at his job. If the filmmakers had actually paid attention to the movie they were creating, they might have seen the folly in the movie's central conceit and created a movie that shows Martin just how wrong he is. But instead, the filmmakers let him drift through the movie. This is essentially a movie about a guy (who just happens to be a killer) who suffers an identity crisis.

His being a hit man is just part of the movies' essentially lightweight, wacky premise (the kind of premise you might expect in a TV situation comedy). Director George Armitage previously gave us the underrated Miami Blues with Alec Baldwin, a tense and unsettlingly movie that wasn't afraid to give us a lead character with a few not-so-likable quirks; however, in Grosse Pointe Blank Armitage gets a screenplay that pulls all the punches. He's also saddled with John Cusack. While Cusack was excellent in The Grifters, playing a likable con man (what other kind of con man is there?), in Grosse Pointe Blank he's woefully inadequate. His face doesn't convey his past or his vocation--which it should in spite of Martin's insistence that no relationship exists. That's what the movie ultimately argues--that a connection indeed exists--and thus the emptiness that Martin is experiencing. But instead of going for irony, the filmmakers go for whimsy instead. John Cusack and Dan Aykroyd in Grosse Pointe Blank. (©1997 Hollywood Pictures Company.

All rights reserved.) They give us Minnie Driver playing cute in every scene (and that's cute in the very worst sense of the word). As Martin's ex-girlfriend, Driver flounces through the movie, attempting to charm us with her whimsical (everything is whimsical in this movie) nature. We're supposed to find it charming that her bedroom is exactly as it was when she last saw Martin, ten years ago. But instead it's pathetic. If Grosse Pointe Blank had been made in Hong Kong, it might have starred the great Chow Yun Fat, who carries just the right combination of charm and danger to make this movie work. But few American actors are really capable of playing this role. Maybe Johnny Depp (based upon his fine performance in Donnie Brasco). (If you have any casting suggestions, please let me know .) I have a theory that the words "wackiness ensues" are the unwritten words in almost every TV Guide sitcom plot synopsis. For example, Frasier: "Frasier runs for president of his condo association"--wackiness ensues. Or Friends: "Rachel arranges a date for Chandler with her boss"--wackiness ensues.

The same sort of approach also applies to Grosse Pointe Blank: a hired killer goes to his ten-year high school reunion--(you guessed it) wackiness ensues. I can't help but feel that somewhere buried under the movie's ultra-lightweight exterior lurks a good movie--but this ain't it. By adopting an approach akin to TV sitcoms, the filmmakers rob the material of its weight. A Hollywood Pictures Presentation Why I’d like to be … John Cusack in Grosse Pointe Blank | Film | The Guardian Role model Why I’d like to be … John Cusack in Grosse Pointe Blank This, perhaps the greatest romcom ever conceived with the male viewer in mind, sees puppy-eyed Cusack reinvented as a hard-edged hitman healed by his love for Minnie Driver – exactly the kind of guy my adolescent self couldn’t help but aspire to Share on Messenger Close I was too young to connect to the brimmingly sensitive John Cusack an entire generation fell for: I was but seven at the time of 1985’s The Sure Thing, and 11 when Lloyd Dobler raised his boombox to Ione Skye in 1989’s Say Anything.

The Cusack I tuned into was the slightly bruised figure visible by the end of the century: the lovelorn Rob of 2000’s High Fidelity, a film engineered so as to rhyme with any boyish pop-lover’s romantic ups-and-downs; before that, the hitman of 1997’s Grosse Pointe Blank, which may stand as the greatest romantic comedy ever conceived with the male viewer in mind, in that it features one character being bloodily skewered with a Biro, and another with a job sourcing mildly obscure 80s vinyl. There’s a scene two-thirds of the way through the latter film that gets me every time – an unexpectedly tender interlude between the bloodletting and sharp-edged social satire. Our ambiguous hero, the self-improving assassin Martin Q. Blank (Cusack), has retreated to a balcony overlooking his high-school reunion with DJ Debi Newberry (Minnie Driver), the sweetheart he abandoned on prom night. To the sound of Pete Townshend’s Let My Love Open The Door, the pair begin to pick over some unfinished personal business.

“I think I was overly harsh when I said you were broken,” offers Debi, by way of conciliation. “I don’t think you’re broken. I think you’re mildly sprained. Nothing that can’t be mended.” “Sorry if I fucked up your life,” Martin ventures, perhaps sensing how that “if” might be superfluous. “It’s not over yet.” In a film that posits contract killing as a metaphor for the damage we can wreak whenever we get close to someone, the scene works because it opens up the possibility of change and redemption – that a partner might recognise our pain and forgive us all previous trespasses. Grosse Pointe Blank is a peculiarly potent watch for men because the script, written by Cusack with Steve Pink, DV DeVincentis and Tom Jankiewicz, on some level acknowledges all our worst instincts: the desire (often misplaced) to put the world to rights, the anger that can shade over into murderous aggression, the persistent need to do something, anything, with our fists, our dicks, a gun – because that’s what we’ve been hardwired to do. Blank’s temporary solution has been to isolate himself, first on prom night, now as an “independent contractor”.

Note Cusack’s distinctive walk: fast, clipped, guarded, one hand forever poised on the pistol in his pocket. He is, however, more vulnerable than threatening: though he insists his were deserving victims (“You should read the files on some of these fuckers!”), we see the toll this lonely life has taken in the dark rings beneath his eyes, and how he comes alive again circling Debi. Cusack and Driver were a thing once upon a time, and their chemistry remains a joy: not just affectionate and sexy but regenerative, suggestive of all manner of blanks being filled. My inchoate late-adolescent self couldn’t help but aspire to that. For some while, there was talk of a follow-up – perhaps one in which Martin Blank finds spirituality? But, really, who needs God when you have Debi Newberry? Instead, we got 2008’s War, Inc, a spiritual sequel in which Cusack played a Blankish contractor stalking the Middle East; its Bush-bashing got blunt, and it missed Driver, for all the zip Hilary Duff brought to her role as the Yemeni Britney Spears.

There may nevertheless be something equally instructive in the morally compromised figure Cusack now cuts on screen: consider his greasy killer in The Paperboy, The Frozen Ground’s curdled misogynist, or his sweaty, vote-grabbing Nixon in The Butler. Where earlier Cusack characters displayed a puppy-eyed idealism, here are men tainted by exactly those grim compulsions Grosse Pointe Blank diagnoses. They reflect what might have happened to Martin Blank if he hadn’t met Debi Newberry, and his hurt hadn’t healed; if he’d given into the worst aspects of his nature, and gone more or less entirely to seed. We don’t all wind up bombing Cambodia or masturbating in front of Nicole Kidman, thankfully, but in Cusack’s recent reinvention as a prolific character actor, there lurks a valuable warning about what can happen to us once the dewy sheen of youth has evaporated.

Question: Who played hitman Martin Q Blank in the 1997 film ‘Grosse Pointe Blank’?
Answer: John Cusack