Blu-ray Review: Fred Cavayé’s ‘Point Blank’ Delivers Non-Stop Suspense

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CHICAGO – Excluding its rather unnecessary epilogue, Fred Cavayé’s latest thriller, “Point Blank,” clocks in around one hour and fifteen minutes. It’s a fast paced film, but it oddly never feels rushed. All of the set-pieces and dramatic revelations are present and executed to perfection. What’s lacking here is the extra padding so often found in bloated Hollywood blockbusters.

Though Paul Haggis’s “The Next Three Days” aimed to imitate the expertly paced tension of a Cavayé’ picture by remaking his 2008 effort, “Anything for Her,” the original managed to tell the story in half the time and was twice as entertaining. As long as Americans can accept reading subtitles, there is no reason to remake Cavayé’s transcendently entertaining work, which has the power to thrill audiences on any continent.

HollywoodChicago.com Blu-ray Rating: 4.0/5.0
Blu-ray Rating: 4.0/5.0

In some ways, “Point Blank” is a mirror image of “Anything for Her,” with its wronged protagonist on the run, and his wife held hostage as a captive MacGuffin. Gilles Lellouche is entirely believable as bewildered everyman Samuel, a nurse who’s eagerly expecting a baby with his wife Nadia (Elena Anaya). Yet after he unknowingly saves a thief, Hugo (Roschdy Zem), from an assassination attempt, he’s forced to break the lowlife out of the hospital. It’s fairly easy to guess where this plot is going, as Samuel and Hugo gradually form an unexpected union as they outwit a group of corrupt cops led by Commandant Patrick Werner (Gérard Lanvin). The uncomfortable quiet during a tranquil early scene instantly signals that danger is imminent, and it’s not long before Nadia is kidnapped by a group of thugs. With his wife’s fate hanging precariously in the balance, Samuel refuses to let Hugo out of his sight, while the police mistake him for one of the thief’s henchman. Between “Point Blank,” “Rampart” and a host of other pictures this year, it’s become inevitable in modern cinema for police officers to be corrupt (was this year’s only good-hearted cop in “Bridesmaids”?).

Point Blank was released on Blu-ray and DVD on Dec. 6, 2011.
Point Blank was released on Blu-ray and DVD on Dec. 6, 2011.
Photo credit: Magnolia Home Entertainment

The final act is set in the pandemonium of a police station, and it’s here where the film reaches heights of excruciating suspense, as editor Benjamin Weill superbly cuts back and forth between escalating scenarios. Cinematographer Alain Duplantier comes up with some unforgettable claustrophobic imagery, such as when Samuel is pinned to a wall as a subway train roars past, mere inches away from his face. Cavayé’s attention to detail is evident even in the smallest roles. Valérie Dashwood doesn’t have much screen time, but she still manages to leave an indelible impression as the venomous Capitiane Moreau, who blows smoke in the face of her pregnant prisoner. She is impossible to look away from, and so is the film.

“Point Blank” is presented in 1080p High Definition (with a 2.35:1 aspect ratio), accompanied by French and English audio tracks, and includes a 50-minute making-of documentary that begins with a disclaimer warning viewers that their enjoyment may be spoiled if they haven’t yet seen the film (one wishes that same disclaimer ran before American movie trailers). The behind-the-scenes footage is unusually candid and thoroughly enjoyable, capturing moments between takes where the actors and director discuss how to get the maximum impact out of a particular scene. For a key reaction shot, Anaya was asked by Cavayé to “smile with her eyes” in order to create the intended magic.

Shooting the film on a tight schedule ended up working to the advantage of the production overall, though it proved somewhat challenging for its cast. It’s clear that Lellouche’s oft-exhausted facial expressions were not staged for the camera. One scene required him to run back and forth on a subway platform for forty consecutive takes. Actor Pierre Benoist lost six pounds during the first week of production after chasing Lellouche in various sequences. It was important to Cavayé for his leading man to perform his own stunts, since it allowed the cameramen to close in on the action, making it an interactive experience for the viewer. One of the most amusing bits in the doc is Dashwood’s story of how she accidentally shattered a window while wrestling with her scene partner during an audition. Cavayé liked the moment so much that he incorporated it into the script. 

‘Point Blank’ is released by Magnolia Home Entertainment and stars Gilles Lellouche, Roschdy Zem, Gérard Lanvin, Elena Anaya, Mireille Perrier, Claire Pérot and Moussa Maaskri. It was written by Fred Cavayé and Guillaume Lemans and directed by Fred Cavayé. It was released on Dec. 6, 2011. It is rated R.

HollywoodChicago.com staff writer Matt Fagerholm

By MATT FAGERHOLM
Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
matt@hollywoodchicago.com

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