Just imagine the comic potential of a slightly neurotic hit man returning home for his ten-year high school reunion --as if high school reunions weren't bizarre enough without having to explain to old aquaintances that you murder for money.
John Cusack plays the role of Martin Q. Blank, a prolific killer-for-hire who, as a result of a world-shattering epiphany (and some prodding by his therapist), decides to seek self-discovery in his hometown of Grosse Pointe, Michigan.
Director George Armitage (Miami Blues) has created a schitzophrenic whirlwind of a comedy that shifts between senseless acts of violence and self- reflexive, witty asides.
Poking fun at popular culture's morbid preoccupation and hypocritical condemnation of that very same violence, the film never takes itself too seriously, but it comes pretty close.
If you're a John Cusack fan, you will like this picture. Showing that old flare from some of his lighter moments in films such as "Better off Dead" and "Money for Nothing," Cusack outdoes himself as Martin Blank, a smooth criminal who is more disturbed by the fact that his old house has been torn down and replaced by a "Quick Mart" than he is by the fact that he kills people.
Alan Aarkin is surprisingly funny as Martin Blank's petrified therapist who unwillingly accepts Cusack's visits out of fear for his own life.
It is finally Aarkin that convinces Cusack that going back to his hometown could be very therapeutic; besides the fact that he happens to be on assignment to whack somebody in the neighborhood.
At the heart of Blank's motivation is the high school sweetheart he stood up on prom night and can't seem to get out of his head, played ingenuously by Minnie Driver (Circle of Friends).
Thinking Martin Blank has been dead or abducted by aliens for the last ten years, she has some issues with his walking back into her life.
Amidst the existential dilemma and Generation X satire, the film features a romance which is just absurd enough to be cute. Cusack's sister Joan brings a lot to the table as Martin Blank's twisted secretary who takes pride in running an efficient disposal business.
Rounding out the cast is Dan Akroyd who, quite frankly, is as gratuitously funny as can be expected of him lately; which is to say, not very. (It's tough to bounce back from the ignominious comedic blight that was "Celtic Pride.")
Aykroyd plays a rival hit-man who is trying to muscle Cusack into joining an assassin's union in order to promote job security -- not an altogether absurd notion in the warped world of this film.
Undoubtedly this unconventional wise guy flick's greatest attributes are its quick-witted dialogue, and a keenly-devised script. There is a nice balance of purposefully overdone violence and ironic reflection which offset each other and keep the tempo upbeat and the film buoyant.
The plot involves a lot of intersecting tangents and some suspension of disbelief. All the hallmarks of suburbia and small town life are fully exploited, culminating at the reunion where the type characters straight out of a Class of '86 high school year book are well represented.
The joke seems to be on everyone besides Martin Blank who has less trouble than most accepting his life for what it is.
His dilemma is whether a wife and kids and dogs and a mortgage are going to fill the emptiness in his life, which incidentally is inhibiting his usual prowess as a hit man.
Blank's confession to his rich-yet-unaffected, disc-jockey ex-girlfriend for whom his love has been reawakened, is a worthwhile sentimental piece which flirts with the cheesy, but is redeemed in an interesting and brutally honest exchange on the arbitrary assignment of acceptable behavior in society and the redemptive powers of love.
The added bonus to this tribute to the 80's is an 80's music soundtrack which boasts the sounds of bands such as the Violent Femmes and the Cure, making for a very appropriate soundscape to the general absurdity of the film. Clearly not destined to be a huge hit at the box office, "Grosse Pointe Blank" has a lot of potential with a comedy cult following and is definitely worth a hundred and ten minutes of your time.
If for no other reason than a couple priceless moments of hilarity, the movie is just a good time waiting to be had.
