Grosse Pointe Blank

Grosse Pointe Blank is a 1997 American comedy crime film directed by George Armitage, and starring John Cusack, Minnie Driver, Alan Arkin and Dan Aykroyd. The film is 1980s revival themed, and the soundtrack features mainly independent music from that decade. The film received positive reviews from critics, and grossed $28,084,357.

Plot

Professional assassin Martin Blank finds himself depressed and bored with his work. A major problem is his chief rival Grocer, whose effort to cartelize the hitman business puts him at potentially lethal odds as he is unaffiliated. Following a botched contract, Martin receives an invitation to his 10-year high school reunion in his hometown of Grosse Pointe, Michigan. Initially reluctant to attend, he is pressured into it by both his therapist, Dr. Oatman, and his secretary, Marcella. She books him a contract in Michigan that coincides with the reunion, ostensibly to smooth things over with the client whose contract was botched.

Upon arriving in Grosse Pointe, Martin reconnects with his childhood friend Paul and seeks out his high school sweetheart Debi Newberry, now a radio DJ, whom Martin had abandoned on prom night to enlist in the Army. When asked about his livelihood, Martin readily reveals that he is a professional killer, a response taken as a joke by everyone he meets.

Meanwhile, Martin is being stalked by Felix LaPoubelle, who attempts to kill Martin in the convenience store that stands in place of his childhood home. He is also pursued by two NSA agents who were tipped off to Martin's contract by Grocer. Despite these dangers, Martin remains distracted by his desire to woo Debi and fails to open the background dossier on his prospective target.

At the reunion, Martin mingles with his former classmates, one of whom hands him her toddler. Martin then experiences an epiphany, recognizing that his recent disillusionment with his work and his amends with Debi signify an opportunity to change his life for good. Moments later, while exploring the halls, Martin is attacked by LaPoubelle, whom he kills in self-defense. Debi stumbles upon the scene and, horrified to find that Martin was not joking about his work after all, flees the reunion. Paul arrives only moments later to find Martin, who forces him into helping to dispose of LaPoubelle's body in the school furnace. Realizing that his friend was not joking about his profession, Paul ends his friendship with Martin.

Later Debi confronts Martin in his hotel room, where he reveals that psychological testing in the army showed he was suited to work as a hitman for the CIA; after leaving the CIA, he went into business for himself. His rationalizations for his work only scare Debi even more; she rejects his attempts at reconciliation and storms out. Martin, concluding that it is futile to try to change his life, fires his psychiatrist over the phone, notifies Marcella that he is laying her off (but directs her to a brick of cash hidden in the office, set aside for her severance pay) and finally opens the dossier containing the details of the contract that brought him to Grosse Pointe. He is startled to find that the target is Debi's father, Bart, who is scheduled to testify against Martin's client.

Grocer decides to kill Bart himself to impress Martin's client. Martin abandons the contract and rescues Bart from certain death, driving him to the Newberry house and holing up inside, narrowly ahead of Grocer and his mercenaries. During the siege, Martin finally reveals that he stood Debi up on prom night to enlist in the army to protect her from his homicidal urges. Martin gradually kills the team of mercenaries. The NSA agents are gunned down by Grocer and Martin. By this point, Martin has run out of ammunition, and when Grocer tries to trick him into "selling" him a weapon for $100,000, Martin kills him by crushing his head with a television. Injured and winded, Martin proposes marriage to Debi, who, shell-shocked from the day's events, does not respond. In the end, Debi and Martin leave Grosse Pointe together.

Cast

• John Cusack as Martin Q. Blank
• Minnie Driver as Debi Newberry
• Alan Arkin as Dr. Oatman
• Dan Aykroyd as Grocer
• Joan Cusack as Marcella
• Jeremy Piven as Paul Spericki
• Hank Azaria as Steven Lardner
• Barbara Harris as Mary Blank
• Mitchell Ryan as Bart Newberry
• K. Todd Freeman as Kenneth McCullers
• Michael Cudlitz as Bob Destepello
• Benny Urquidez as Felix LaPoubelle
• Carlos Jacott as Ken
• Jenna Elfman as Tanya
• Steve Pink as Terry Rostand
• Brent Armitage as Cosmo
• Ann Cusack as Amy
• Belita Moreno as Mrs. Kinetta
• K.K. Dodds as Tracy

Production

Screenwriter Tom Jankiewicz wrote the initial script for Grosse Pointe Blank in 1991 after receiving an invitation to his 10th high school reunion.^[1] He picked the title while substitute teaching for an English class at Upland High School, writing the title on the classroom's whiteboard to see how it would look on a movie-theater marquee.^[1] Jankiewicz decided to use Grosse Pointe, an upscale suburb of Detroit, Michigan, rather than his working-class hometown of Sterling Heights due to the contrast between the two towns.^[1]

Jankiewicz simultaneously worked as a substitute teacher and a cashier at a Big Lots in Upland, California, to make ends meet before his script was picked up for production.^[1]

Jankiewicz, who was raised in Sterling Heights, Michigan, based many of the film's characters on his real-life friends from Bishop Foley Catholic High School in Madison Heights, Michigan.^[2] For example, Jeremy Piven's character, Paul Spericki, was originally named after Jankiewicz's best friend during high school, though the name was changed during filming.^[2] It was rumored that the film's script was based on an actual high school student from Jankiewicz's past who became a professional hit man, which is untrue.^[2] Joan Cusack's character, Marcella, was named for Jankiewicz's manager at Big Lots.^[1]

George Armitage later claimed "I did as much as anyone did in terms of writing" but did not seek credit.

The script, when I met with John [Cusack] and the writers, was 132 pages. I said: “Look, I’m not doing anything over 100 pages.” They said, “Okay,” and they did a re-write, and it came back 150 pages. So I said “Okay, you guys are fired,” and I spent most of pre-production re-writing the screenplay, getting it down to 102 pages. Then we would improvise, and I noticed that some of the stuff I’d cut out was in the improvs, they were bringing back stuff that I’d cut out, but we had a good time with it.^[3]

Only the aerial footage of Lakeshore Drive was actually shot in Grosse Pointe.^[2] The city of Grosse Pointe Farms did not allow the filmmakers to use any shots of Grosse Pointe South High School for the movie due to the presence of alcohol in the reunion scenes. The majority of the film was shot in Monrovia, California.^[2] In a 1997 interview, actor John Cusack, who shares the film's screenwriting credit along with Jankiewicz, Steve Pink, and D.V. DeVincentis, said he would have liked to film on location in Grosse Pointe, but they were unable to move production to Michigan due to budget constraints.^[2]

The scene where Martin is attacked by LaPoubelle while exploring the halls of his old high school was filmed at Reseda High School in the San Fernando Valley.

Armitage later recalled:

With Grosse Pointe Blank I shot three movies simultaneously. We shot the script as written, we shot a mildly understated version, and we shot a completely over-the-top version, which usually was what was used. We cast that movie—and I’ve cast most movies—by having the actors come in and read, then throwing the script out and saying: “Okay, let’s improvise.” That’s what I was comfortable with. I say to the actors: “You are creating the character. This is written, these are the parameters, this is the outline. Now you take this, make it your own, and bring me, bring me, bring me.”... I’m very fond of Grosse Pointe Blank because of that, the insanity of it was trying to keep things working with three different registers to choose from.^[3]

Armitage says he shot several endings:

I’m usually rather rough on studio heads in terms of creative help, but after seeing the audience so angry at Alec dying in Miami Blues, I decided that on Grosse Pointe Blank, this time, dealing with another psychopath, another sociopath, John’s character—I just wanted him to survive. And we shot so many different endings. They were so generous at Disney, we had Ovitz and Joe Roth were running the place, they were really great with us. We shot two or three different endings, the two of them getting together, talking about things, and everything didn’t work. And Joe Roth said at one of the screenings: “When the father says ‘You’ve got my blessing’ in the bathtub at the end, after the shoot-out, just cut to the two of them leaving.” I thought, “Let’s give it a shot,” and it worked beautifully.^[3]

Reception

Critical response

Grosse Pointe Blank received positive reviews from critics. Review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a rating of 79%, based on 67 reviews, with an average rating of 7.1/10.^[4] Metacritic gave the film a score of 76 out of 100, based on 27 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[5]

Roger Ebert gave the film 2.5 stars out of 4. He praised the chemistry between the lead actors and enjoyed the dialogue, but considered it a near-miss, wishing for a wittier, more clever ending.^[6]

Box office

The film earned an estimated $6,870,397 in its opening weekend, ranking #4 at the box office. It went on to earn $28,084,357 in the United States.^[7]

Soundtrack

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	Vol. 1 Vol. 2

The score for Grosse Pointe Blank was composed by Joe Strummer, formerly of The Clash, and includes two songs from The Clash, "Rudie Can't Fail" (from London Calling) and their cover version of Willi Williams' "Armagideon Time".

In addition to The Clash, the tracks featured are a mix of popular 1980s punk rock, ska, and new wave from such bands as Violent Femmes, Echo & the Bunnymen, The Specials, The Jam, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and A-ha.

The soundtrack album reached #31 on the Billboard 200 chart, prompting the release of a second volume of songs from the film.

While most songs played throughout the film (especially at the reunion) had been recorded by the time of the students' graduation (circa 1986), several songs are later:

• The Guns N' Roses version of Paul McCartney's "Live and Let Die" was recorded in 1991.
• "El Matador", playing during the dance scene at the reunion, was released by Los Fabulosos Cadillacs in 1993.
• The Specials' version of "Pressure Drop" was recorded in 1996.
• Eels' "Your Lucky Day in Hell" (1996) can be heard during the bar scene when the two former lovers meet again.

Several songs in the film are not featured on the soundtrack albums.

Volume 1

1. "Blister in the Sun" (Violent Femmes) – 2:08
2. "Rudie Can't Fail" (The Clash) – 3:31
3. "Mirror In The Bathroom" (English Beat) – 3:09
4. "Under Pressure" (David Bowie and Queen) – 4:03
5. "I Can See Clearly Now" (Johnny Nash) – 2:46
6. "Live and Let Die" (Guns N' Roses) – 3:02
7. "We Care a Lot" (Faith No More) – 4:03
8. "Pressure Drop" (The Specials) – 4:18
9. "Absolute Beginners" (The Jam) – 2:50
10. "Armagideon Time" (The Clash) – 3:53
11. "El Matador" (Los Fabulosos Cadillacs) – 4:34
12. "Let My Love Open the Door (E. Cola Mix)" (Pete Townshend) – 4:58
13. "Blister 2000" (Violent Femmes) – 2:58

Volume 2

1. "A Message to You, Rudy" (The Specials) – 2:53
2. "Cities in Dust" (Siouxsie and the Banshees) – 3:49
3. "The Killing Moon" (Echo & the Bunnymen) – 5:44
4. "Monkey Gone to Heaven" (Pixies) – 2:56
5. "Lorca's Novena" (The Pogues) – 4:35
6. "Go!" (Tones on Tail) – 2:32
7. "Let it Whip" (Dazz Band) – 4:24
8. "The Dominatrix Sleeps Tonight" (Dominatrix) – 3:40
9. "War Cry" (Joe Strummer) – 5:58
10. "White Lines (Don't Don't Do It)" (Grandmaster Flash & Melle Mel) – 7:24
11. "Take On Me" (A-ha) – 3:46
12. "You're Wondering Now" (The Specials) – 2:37

Home media

The film was publicly released on VHS and DVD in 1998 in the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and France. Australia was the first country to premiere the film on television in 2001.

Unofficial sequel

According to Joan Cusack, the 2008 film War, Inc. is an informal sequel. Both films are similar in style and theme, and both films star John as an assassin and his sister Joan as his assistant, with Dan Aykroyd in a supporting role.^[8]

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Grosse Pointe Blank

• Grosse Pointe Blank at the Internet Movie Database
• Grosse Pointe Blank at AllMovie
• Grosse Pointe Blank at Box Office Mojo
• Grosse Pointe Blank at Rotten Tomatoes
• Grosse Pointe Blank at Metacritic
• "The Recesses of High School" by Jo Scott-Coe, in River Teeth 9.2 (Spring 2008)