Grosse Pointe Blank

Director:George Armitage
Screenplay:Steve Pink, D.V. DeVincentis, Tom Jankiewicz, and John Cusack
Starring:John Cusack, Minnie Driver, Dan Aykroyd, Joan Cusack, Alan Arkin and Jeremy Piven

John's Review

Some high school graduates go into real estate, or perhaps become doctors or lawyers. Others become hitmen. The hitmen are apparently much funnier and infinitely more interesting to hang out with--at least if they're anything like Martin Q. Blank (Cusack), the personable, laid back suburbia-bred killer in this deadpan-hilarious comedy. Martin's got a booming business going, thanks to his calm under pressure and seeming enjoyment of his job, although he reasons with himself that he's good at it and that's why he keeps doing it.

But he's also got a case of existential blues. He faithfully keeps his therapy appointments with Dr. Oatman (Arkin), but the shrink hates his patient and tries to dodge his calls. A competing hired gun called Grocer (Aykroyd), peeved that his rival won't join the hitman union he's organizing, would like to rub him out. And then there's some unfinished business with Martin's ex-girlfriend, Debi (Driver), for whom he still carries a torch and is all actuality the central part of the story. So when Marcella (Joan Cusack) urges her boss to take advantage of his upcoming 10-year high school reunion to see the old neighborhood (the Detroit suburb of the title) and maybe work things out with Debi, Martin reluctantly aggrees.

This is one of the funniest films I've seen in a long time. I was very pleasantly surprised. John Cusack did such a good job of just playing himself. Minnie Driver was also a pleasant surprise. The only time I had seen her before was in Circle of Friends with Chris O'Donnell. (I was told she put on a considerable amount of weight for that role) This is not what I'd call a lighthearted comedy in the vein of such films as Better Off Dead or One Crazy Summer, but more black in it's depiction of humor. But with John you can't go wrong. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and would recommend it to anyone who is intereseted in a good laugh.

Grade: B+
 
 

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