Grosse Pointe Blank(George Armitage)(1997)

My first review of a movie from the ever so glorious decade that was the 1990's. This movie was extremely dry and a little absurd but in a way that worked. It stars the ever so dreamy John Cusack and the ever so dreadful Minnie Driver. It has many scenes that work and a couple that are really terrible. This is a a movie that portrays hit men in a funny way without being insanely cheesy and unwatchable.

John Cusack is dreamy. There I said it. He also is a great actor. This is probably his best role besides maybe Say Anything. He plays the role of a troubled hit man very well. His arguments with Dan Akroyd are flat out hilarious. They play so well off each other it is unbelievable. Cusack's therapy session are dry and incredibly well written. The only weak point of the acting comes from the ever so awful Minnie Driver. She could've easily ruined this movie but somehow the part she plays is small enough that it does not ruin it. She is a terrible actress and should never have gotten work ever! Dan Akrod plays a great villain. He acts like an absolute maniac when he is shooting up the house. The scene him and Cusack have in the diner is hilarious and fast paced. The line dealing with the omelet was so simple yet worked.

The writer of this movie surprisingly has no prior experience and no more pictures written to this day but it really does not show. The writing is incredibly well suited for this movie and works for all the characters. It is incredibly dry in parts and over the top in others. The characters are very well developed. The only problem I see is how the two government agents are developed and then discarded like they are nothing. Why waste our time developing them if you are just gonna toss them away like that?

Of course though this movie couldn't miss some stupid cliche ridden parts. For example the giant shoot up and explosion in the store and the guy playing video games was so oblivious to it that he could not hear it. Like come on! Do they really need something like that? I hate scenes like that. It just reeks of 1990's cliches.

Lastly the soundtrack on this movie is just killer. So many great 80's alternative bands on the soundtrack that it is worth seeing just for the amazing soundtrack.

For a genre so cliche ridden it works extremely well and manages to pull itself out of the proverbial shit that is the hit man genre. It is because of the amazing writing and the great comedic performance between the main actors. This movie delivers on what it is supposed to be, a dark yet fluffy comedy.
74/100
B
-Hutz