Review: Point Blank

Lee Marvin stars as anti-hero Walker, who is shot and left for dead by his double-crossing partner Reese (John Vernon) and cheating spouse (Sharon Acker) on a heist on Alcatraz island. Walker manages to get off the island, recover from his wounds, and now he’s just plain pissed off. He wants the money ($93,000) and he wants revenge. Some time later a mystery man named Yost (Keenan Wynn) has a job for Walker that might just allow for him to get his revenge. He goes after The Organisation, which currently employs the slimy Reese, who used the $93,000 to pay off a debt to The Organisation. So Walker keeps working his way up the chain demanding the likes of Brewster (Carroll O’Connor) and the slick and slimy Carter (Lloyd Bochner) to get the damn money he’s owed. Killing anyone who doesn’t/can’t give him the money and moving on to the next person. Angie Dickinson turns up as an important contact, who isn’t especially happy to see Walker. James B. Sikking is interesting casting as an Organisation hitman.

 

Initially ignored but eventually critically acclaimed, this 1967 John Boorman (“Deliverance”, “Excalibur”, “The Tailor of Panama”) crime pic is unflappably stylish and cool, tough-as-nails, and highly influential. An adaptation of a Donald E. Westlake/Richard Stark novel that also gave birth to the glib and unlikeable “Payback”, it’s a must for Lee Marvin fans. It’s immediately well-directed and edited, and gorgeously shot by Philip H. Lathrop (“The Cincinnati Kid”, “The Driver”) too, with particularly vibrant 60s colours throughout. Also immediately apparent is the fact that Lee Marvin is absolutely not fucking around here in one of his best performances the same year as the iconic all-star effort “The Dirty Dozen”. He’s terrifically single-minded, and he’s backed up by rock-solid character work by Keenan Wynn, Hart Bochner (particularly outstanding), John Vernon, and yes even Angie Dickinson. I’m not an Angie fan, she always comes across like a middle-aged school librarian to me, even early in her career. She’s fine here as Sharon Acker’s sister. Apparently star Marvin didn’t like what Vernon was bringing to the table as his treacherous ex-partner. Feeling that the all-purpose villain character actor wasn’t tough enough to be a suitable foe for him, Marvin (a notoriously heavy drinker, I might add) thusly punched the actor, leading to Vernon crying. All I’ll say to that is I don’t think Vernon needed to be assaulted to bring out the tough villain in him. I’ve seen him do it plenty of times over the years, albeit more of a gruff bureaucratic villain perhaps than a manly man ‘tough guy’ like Marvin. Besides, the character Vernon plays here is ultimately a weasel, anyway.

 

On the downside, flaws are few actually. I think you’ll likely work out who Fairfax is well before they reveal themselves, and I’m also not sure the film finds the right note to end on. Whether that’s the fault of the author or screenwriters Alexander Jacobs (The underrated “Sitting Target” and “French Connection II”), and Rafe & David Newhouse (who are mostly known for being editors), I cannot rightly say, though apparently Boorman himself rewrote the script. It’s a touch pretentious too, though that may not bother you.

 

Made with 60s style but also a lot of muscle and ruthlessness (Listen to the sound of the shoes at the beginning. That’s an emphatic, purposeful walk!), and a terrific Lee Marvin. This revenge-thriller was heralded as a classic late in life, and I can see both why it was initially ignored, and why it is now seen in a much more favourable light. Is it overrated? Slightly. The plot isn’t exactly free of predictability, for instance. However, it’s also probably my favourite John Boorman film, so there’s that too. There’s not a whole helluva lot to it, but I rather like that it gets to the point and has a singular focus just like its lead character. Entertaining and cool it helped usher in a new kind of action-oriented style of filmmaking.

 

Rating: B-