'Point Blank' an Edge of Your Seat Thriller Hollywood Forgot to Make

You've got to hand it to the French; they know how to make an effective, nail-biting thriller. Not once do they make it too long or short, and you never have enough time to catch your breath as the action jerks you in a direction you least expect. The latest example of this is Fred Cavaye's "Point Blank," not to be mistaken with the classic movie starring Lee Marvin. It stars Gilles Lellouche as Samuel Pierret, a nurse whose wife gets kidnapped and is forced to help a thief whom he saved from dying escape if he wants to see her alive again.

"Point Blank" wastes no time and hits the ground running as we watch Hugo Sartet (Roschdy Zem) running downstairs while pursued by two men intent on ending his life. But this is the first of several surprises the movie pulls on us as Pierret, who saves Sartet's life after someone tries to murder him, is later forced to get him out of the hospital he works in so he can save his wife Nadia (Elena Anaya). What suddenly seems like a buddy movie soon becomes anything but that.

What makes "Point Blank" so effective is how it flouts certain conventions and then quickly pulls the rug out from under us. Pierret and Sartet, in a Hollywood movie, would probably turn out to be the best of friends but that's not the case here. Cavaye never tries to paint a rosy picture of Sartet, a thief and not one to apologize for it. We expect to find a vulnerable side to his character, but that never becomes the case. All that matters is these men need each other to escape and find their loved ones.

Cavaye as a director almost looks like he's going to delve into the "chaos cinema" filmmaking we see in movies like "The Bourne Identity" and its sequels, but that never becomes the case. We can tell what's going on, as the camera doesn't start jerking all over the place. Does everything in "Point Blank" make sense? No, but so what? The movie moves too fast for us to analyze the logic of it all. What it does do is keep us guessing as to what will happen next.

The performances are all around excellent, and there's not a weak one to be found from the entire cast. The actors are fully invested in their characters' inadvertent circumstances and never let up. Also adding to "Point Blank's" adrenaline rush is Klaus Badelt's propulsive film score. It's a combination of orchestral and electronic elements that helps keep the proceedings as edgy as possible; these are the soundtracks I always look forward to listening to.

Summer 2011 has been a disappointing season for action movies, as the majority of them feel lacking in genuine excitement. Perhaps American movie studios should take a hint from the French, who are not overly concerned with offending any audience willing to pay that overpriced ticket. "Point Blank" could have easily turned into a convoluted action movie, and while its plot is not exactly original, it never simplifies its characters or actions to satisfy the moral values its audience has. It simply does its job of creating a very exciting action movie that leaves us breathless, and that's the most we should ask from one like this.

* * * 1/2 out of * * * *