Grosse Pointe Blank (1997) User Reviews

Firing Blanks & a little romance

[Greg Lord · 8/10 · 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!

One of my favorite films

[lastliberal · 8/10 · 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.

I'm drawing a complete...

[Noir-5 · 8/10 · 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.

A '90s classic!

[jellyneckr · 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.

Original mix of romantic comedy and violent gangster shootouts.

[imseeg · 7/10 · 9 June 2020]

John Cusack (hit man) has got a violent feud with Dan Akroyd (another hit man). In between there is a budding romance with Minnie Driver and when I say " in between" I mean literally in between the shootouts and sometimes even DURING the shootouts. Hilarious. Original.

Weird, yet quite unique combination of violence and romance. It's literally like a gangster shooting someone and a second later proposing to marry his high school sweetheart. Sounds silly? Wait till you see it and seeing it you must if you are into black gangster comedies.

The good: produced by John Cusack himself, meaning he had control and it shows. The jokes are spot on and the story is refreshingly original, however weird it might be. Nice eighties soundtrack as well.

Any bad? It's a bit silly. So what? It's meant to be out of control silly, THAT's the fun of it.

A classic in my book

[K3nzit · 9/10 · 28 December 2019]

Man, I really love this black comedy. It's very well put together, with many great performances and a dialogue that is very well-written. The action is brilliant aswell - you'll definitely see some cool stuff here. The soundtrack consists of many nice tunes from the 80's, that lift the film even higher. Well, you just can't go wrong with this one - A classic in my book.

Mostly Hits the Mark

[kenjha · 7/10 · 11 April 2010]

A hit man returns to the Detroit area for his high school reunion, coincidently the location of his next assignment. This is an enjoyable comedy that just doesn't quite put it all together; the mixture of comedy and violence is somewhat jarring. The cast is terrific. Cusack does well as the hit man who tells everyone that he's a professional killer, and of course everyone thinks he's kidding. Sister Joan is amusing as his loyal secretary while Aykroyd has fun as a maniacal rival hit man who wants Cusack to join him in some sort of hit man union. Arkin is funny as Cusack's reluctant shrink. Even the much-maligned Driver is fine as the love interest.

Consistently surprising and entertaining

[SKG-2 · 10/10 · 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.

Hit And Miss

[writers_reign · 6/10 · 23 June 2016]

On the whole this is an enjoyable romp which contrives to blend nostalgia with violence and romantic comedy in a fairly harmless way. Lead John Cusack who is invariably good value, scores as a hit man accepting the clichéd 'one last job' before retiring to raise alfalfa, being talked into attending a ten-year High School reunion in his home town in which, of course, he hasn't set foot in those same ten years, after walking out on his girl, Minnie Driver, plus everyone he knew. The weak link in the plot is the fact that he fails to open the envelope containing details of his latest 'contract' until virtually the last moment when he discovers - a touch too neatly - that it is, in fact, Driver's father. If you can get past that you'll probably enjoy the movie.

"Mirror in the Bathroom"

[UniqueParticle · 10/10 · 22 June 2019]

Perpetually phenomenal every time I see it! Among one of John Cusack's best roles, I would've loved to have seen this in theaters, and I hope it gets a rerelease via fathom events at some point. This has one of the best soundtracks, an exquisite cast, some badass moments, and some fairly good writing. Really deserves praise and appreciation! I'm always intrigued by this sweet hitman movie whenever I get a chance to see it.

Darkly Cynical, even Nihilistic

[skepticskeptical · 6/10 · 3 August 2019]

Grosse Pointe Blank is a whirlwind of a film--no chance the viewer will be bored. But it is quite unsettling in its underlying message, which can be summed up as: ¨Everything is nothing, and nothing is everything.¨ The female protagonist is pathetic, and the depiction of her veers toward a more general misogyny. No matter how horrific the truth is, there is a woman desperate enough to accept it, having once been jilted by a lover who shows up ten years later?

The main theme of this film is just kind of horrible, morally speaking. But it is so kaleidoscopically multigeneric--or, rather, intergeneric--that one can easily ignore any questions of meaning, spending one´s time instead on the multifarious elements of action, noir, romantic comedy, nostalgic comedy, human interest story, etc. Put simply, Grosse Pointe Blank is a big fat garbage pizza of a film. That said, I do own that it is thought-provoking. I imagine that most people who rave about this creation don´t spend much time thinking about its many disturbing implications.

The accompanying music is a walk down memory lane for anyone who was listening to pop music in the 1980s. Not sure whether anyone else will appreciate the score.

Great Movie

[eastbergholt2002 · 9/10 · 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.

So-so Pointe Blank

[Karl Self · 7/10 · 30 November 2008]

This is an enjoyable, quirky movie about a contract hit-man (named Blank) with a point blank predilection returning to his home town Grosse Pointe, Michigan for his dreaded ten-year class reunion. Once he gets there, romance is in the air betwixt him and his highschool-sweetheart (whom he had ditched at the prom), and also a good amount of lead from a disgruntled ex-customer and a competitor. The acting is solid and there are several funny scenes and dialogues. And the soundtrack is packed with 1980ies hits and misses.

But I still found this movie unsatisfying: it doesn't gel. It's of course a farce rather than a documentary, but everything seems slightly implausible or doesn't add up. Many scenes reminded me of those DVD-extras which the director decided to throw out in the final cut because they "didn't help with the story". Here they kept them in and made a movie out of it.

Example, when hit-man Martin Blank (John Cusack) comes to pick up his reunion date Debi (Minnie Driver), she goes like "Come in, my dad's *dying* to meet you!". On earth why? Because he's got a role to play later on and so must somehow be introduced, that's why. Which is also why sassy DJane Minnie inexplicably still lives with him. And his role is actually that, by a 300 million : 1 coincidence, Blank's manic main competitor (brilliant Dan Ackroyd) happens to have a contract on this dude.

I'm not saying that that one scene broke the movie; but there are plenty other scenes like that, which makes the script a bit too dumb and forceful for my taste. But if you manage to switch your cerebrum one notch back and just go with the flow, and if black comedy is up your street, then you won't regret checking this one out.

Disappointing - Blank is a good word for it...

[QAGuy · 4/10 · 14 December 2001]

They say a camel is a horse designed by a committee. Well, with four screenwriters, this is a camel of a film. John Cusack and Dan Aykroyd don't make it as hit men for me to begin with. Cusack was great playing against type as Nelson Rockefeller in Cradle Will Rock, but he keeps just enough of his lovesick blues to make himself look miscast here. Aykroyd is just too much of a goofball to pull of this role.

The buildup to any sort of satisfying payoff just isn't enough to sustain you through the film. And the payoff isn't much anyway.

Even though this predates Analyze This and The Sopranos, the psychiatrist scenes seem a little derivative, but Alan Arkin does a great job, and the scenes with Arkin and Cusack are wonderful. As usual Cusack and sister Joan have some great scenes together, but they don't compensate for what is otherwise a rather tiring story.

Wonderfully fun comedy

[bob the moo · 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!

This is an offbeat, very likable film about a hit-man who takes an assignment in his hometown.

[khanbaliq2 · 7/10 · 5 June 2010]

Grosse Pointe Blank is a bright burst of action and comedy with a cast that makes for rousing good company. A hit-man (John Cusack) attends his high school reunion in Grosse Point.

The one-joke premise is unpromising, but this skillful black comedy pays off with a tone pitched somewhere between jaunty and edgy, and amusing performances all around. The lead role seems custom-built for Cusack. In 2000, readers of Total Film magazine voted Grosse Pointe Blank the 21st greatest comedy film of all time. The film's soundtrack features mainly independent music hits from the 1980s. According to Joan Cusack, the 2008 film War, Inc. is an informal sequel to Grosse Pointe Blank.

What ever happened to ....

[malcolmjohnston · 9/10 · 21 November 2021]

Watched this for the first time in 20 years and all I could think of was "what ever happened to John Cusack and why doesn't he make great films like this???" Fantastic sound track to a black comedy.

"Don't kill anybody for a few days. See what it feels like".

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 13 February 2011]

No angst driven plot here over one's choice of profession; even when Martin (John Cusack) is seeing his shrink (Alan Arkin), I never got the idea that he was all that overwrought about killing people for a living. The absurdity of the film occurs at the Ultramart shoot-out with a clueless clerk oblivious to the gunfire and smashing merchandise around him while absorbed in his own games of violence. Cleverly done.

With the backdrop of a ten year high school reunion, this one takes the idea of educational achievement and stands it on it's head. Career pinnacles are exemplified by car salesmen and radio DJ's, while Martin Blank's admission as a professional killer is received as nonchalantly as a traveling salesman.

See this one as much for the supporting cast as the principal players (Cusack and Minnie Driver). Dan Ackroyd is priceless as The Grocer, Hank Azaria attempts a principled government agent, and Benny Urquidez is a menacing counter-assassin on the make for Blank. Throw in Jeremy Piven for good measure as Martin's neurotic high school buddy and you've got yourself an hour and a half of psychotic assassination humor. Definitely not to be confused with 1997's "You Kill Me', which didn't.

Another cult classic of the 90s

[chaviportero-919-265337 · 10/10 · 8 June 2020]

Could 90s have been the last great decade of the 20th century greatest art? This movie is smart, edgy, funny, full of bullets and a soundtrack to check out. What else can you ask for? John Cusack in the role of his life and that's a lot to say as he chose great ones when he was on the crest of the wave. Thanks to the clever writers for a movie like this. We love to see characters who actually can think.

---spoiler--- The reactions in the car with his old-time friend makes you feel so close to how they're feeling. And the detail of the party with the friend dancing with the tall girl, let's dance!

More like a club. Work less, make more.

[secondtake · 7/10 · 29 July 2009]

Grosse Pointe Blank (1997)

More like a club--work less, make more.

Get past the glitches and a couple slow spots and the iffy romance, and look at the dozen or so utterly hilarious scenes and you have a movie to die for. There are lots of subtle comments, and subtle facial movements and gestures, to make a careful viewing really pay off. If you stick to the big effects it might be disappointing, so give more weight to the writing and acting. It's a comedy, don't forget, and almost every line is funny.

John Cusak is restrained and comical, and can be clever and combative with Dan Aykroyd, wistful with Minnie Driver, and neurotic with Alan Arkin, who has the funniest moments in the film. Throw in three (count them) other Cusaks as supporting actors, and the ever pointed Jeremy Piven. Oh, and Hank Azaria, too. Quite a cast, and each has his or her great moment.

The plot isn't really the point, so it barrels along from hit to hit (so to speak), and has a terrific soundtrack to pump it up, and basically serves as a way for us to see one funny situation after another. There is a purpose to most of it, though, and by the end there is a climax, and a resolution to the love situation that may or may not be satisfying. But who cares? You'll be laughing, and marking the times for the funny scenes so you can see them again.

Hilariously Light and Fluffy, Yet Dark Comedy

[gavin6942 · 9/10 · 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.

Funny, cool '90s movie with a fantastic fight scene

[MikeyBoomBoom · 7/10 · 23 August 2013]

A sharp and witty romantic comedy with some really excellent dialogue. I'm not normally a big fan of Cusack but he is perfect in the role of Martin Blank. Minnie Driver looks beautiful and does a great job. Some uneven parts, the ending isn't amazing. My favourite part was the fight at the reunion dance, it's just brilliantly executed, one of the most exciting fights I've seen committed to film. Maybe it's because you actually see John Cusack throwing high kicks and not some stuntman filmed from behind, there is a very authentic feel to it. Martin Blank is wandering through the corridors of his high school, he's just shared a kiss with Driver, he comes across his old locker, jimmies it open and finds a ten year old spliff he stashed there. He smiles and crumbles the flaky joint, dreamy with nostalgia and the possibilities of life, happier than he's been in years. A hit-man steps around the corner, Blank's reaction is instantaneous, instinctive, he gets in the first blow before the enemy has even raised his gun and in the blink of an eye the two killers are fighting to the death. It's just an outstanding scene.

Entertaining, well written, great cast.

[z-gorey · 8/10 · 9 March 2020]

Absolutely enjoyable movie with a great 80's soundtrack. Action, romance, comedy. If you're a John Cusack fan this is one for the list. I'm not a fan of Minnie Driver but even she is tolerable in this flick. Basic premise; a hitman goes to his high school reunion.

Good Movie With A Different Storyline,

[lesleyharris30 · 7/10 · 8 August 2012]

Grosse Pointe Blank is a good movie with a good,albeit different,storyline,a good cast and some good twists to it too.I've never been a huge fan of John Cusack,but I did appreciate his role as Martin Q. Blank in this.I really enjoyed Dan Aykroyds role as Grocer and Hank Azaria as Steven Lardner,because I've always been a big fan of the two of them,Dan Aykroyd for great comedy films he wrote and starred in such as Ghostbusters and The Blues Brothers,and Hank Azaria because of his many voice roles on The Simpsons.They could have gotten a much more attractive female lead for this movie,no offense on her,but Minnie Driver is not good looking,someone like Cameron Diaz would have been much better for the role of Debi Newberry.

An assassin is sent on a mission to a place called Grosse Pointe,and by an amazing coincidence,it is where his ten year high school reunion is taking place at the same time.

Just not funny

[Irish-Sunglasses · 1/10 · 13 May 2003]

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.