Point Break (1991)

Point Break (1991)

Director: Kathryn Bigelow

Cast: Keanu Reeves, Patrick Swayze, Lori Petty, Gary Busey, John C. McGinley, James LeGros

Along with Michael Manns’ Heat (1995), Point Break is one of the greatest heist/action films of the 90’s. I mean, of course there were excellent action films like Speed (1994), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and The Last Boy Scout (1991) to mention but a few, but there’s something special about Point Break that sets it apart from all other action films from that decade. It has a certain magic to it, it has soul.  The upcoming remake made me want to revisit the original, to remind myself of its awesomeness, which I doubt the remake, directed by a guy called Ericson Core will be able to top. Why did Point Break set the bar so high? What exactly made this one such a memorable action film?

On Point Break, we meet Johnny Utah; an ex-quarterback turned FBI agent who is trying to gain experience in the field by attempting to capture a gang of thugs called ‘The Ex-Presidents’. These Ex-Presidents have never been caught and so, in order to make a name for himself, Johnny Utah takes it upon himself to bust them. The police suspect that these thugs are a gang of local surfers , so Special Agent Utah goes undercover and becomes one of them. Problem is he soon discovers these surfer dudes are actually cool people; when the time comes, will he have what it takes to take them down?

Point Break was the film that turned Keanu Reeves into a fully fledged action star. After this one he did Speed (1994) and voila! From there on in he became a bonafide action star; he’s never looked back. Still as I type this he’s making action films! Before Point Break Keanu was all about looking dumb and saying “whoa” but after the double whammy of Point Break and Speed, he transformed into an ass kicking, killing machine. Some of you younger readers out there might have always known Keanu Reeves as an action star, but for those of us who knew him from his Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989) days know what a shock to the system it was to see Keanu change his image that way. It was like a coming of age thing, now he was no longer a stupid teenager, now he was a “man”.  

What works so well about this movie is its spiritual side, spearheaded by Patrick Swayze in the role of Bohdi, a surfer/spiritualist who’s an anti-hero of sorts. Sure he and his crew of ‘Ex-Presidents’ rob banks, but Bohdi also preaches a very positive life philosophy. He wants to truly live his life, he doesn’t want to be a drone, he wants to squeeze as much as he can out of life. He’s an adrenalin junky, so he steals banks in order to have the money to skydive and surf the biggest waves on the planet. His crew doesn’t kill, they get their money and they are out. So this is where the conundrum comes in because agent Utah infiltrates Bodhi’s circle of thugs, and finds them to be for lack of a better word, awesome. These guys are the kind of guys you want to hang around and party with. So does he turn them in or help them? Kathryn Bigelow and crew really managed to carve out a crew of ambiguous characters. Are they good or are they evil? We’re never really sure, which makes the film that much more interesting. Will agent Utah end up becoming one of them?  

Speaking of the films spiritual side, Point Break has a certain magic to it that not a lot of films manage to acquire. Bodhi’s life philosophy doesn’t come off as phony; he’s the real deal, a real human being. The surfing side of the film portrays a connection with nature, a fascination with the beauty of it all. There’s this scene that I love, in which Johnny Utah is learning to surf and his out in the ocean, catching waves as the sun is setting and he’s all excited. As the spray of the ocean surf hits him he says “I can’t describe what I’m feeling” and you believe it when he says it, the visuals, the music and the emotions are palpable and believable. The film expertly captures that moment when you feel one with nature, when you connect with it and realize that cars, buildings and cement are crap next to the beauty of nature. This is what really makes the film special for me. Kathryn Bigelow directed this one, showing her trademark panache behind the camera. There’s this chase sequence that’s just amazing. Utah runs through a bunch of suburban houses while chasing one of the Ex Presidents, it’s an awesome scene that was shot with her trademark long takes. Awesome stuff. As an action film, it does not disappoint.

There’s a Point Break remake on the horizon, as I write this it hasn’t been released yet. But it was directed by a total unknown, starring equally unknown actors, so I don’t know what to expect from it. How exactly do they plan on surpassing Bigelow’s film? Will they manage to capture that magic? I seriously doubt it. Did they cast good actors in the roles? Who knows, but Patrick Swayze, Keanu, Lori Petty and Gary Busey really bring it on this one. They are part of what makes Point Break run without a hitch. So yeah, what we got here my friends is a great action film, and a great film all around. Check this one out for a taste of one of the greatest action/heist flicks of the 90’s.

Rating: 5 out of 5

The Hurt Locker (2009)

Title: The Hurt Locker (2009)

Director: Kathryn Bigelow

Starring: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Guy Pierce, Ralph Fiennes, David Morse

The Hurt Locker is the movie with all the Oscar Buzz this year (2010) and if you ask this Film Connoisseur, it actually deserves it. In my opinion, sometimes the Oscars make this big deal about a certain movie, and when you actually get down to seeing it you end up asking yourself if that was in deed the best movie that the American film industry had to offer that year. Some nominations make you think that maybe the people in charge don’t really care much about good cinema. Sometimes it feels like they are just looking for the cutest film that they can market and make money with. Juno and Sunshine Millionaire come to mind. Not that they are bad films. But damn it, did they really deserve all that buzz and attention? This years Oscar nominations have not been announced yet, but if the attention that this film is getting is any indication of what we can expect at the Oscars, then The Hurt Locker is going to be THE movie to win awards next Oscar night. The film has already won many other respected awards across the world. The critics seem to love it and recommend it. So what’s the big deal with The Hurt Locker? Is it really as good a film as it’s being hyped up to be?

The Hurt Locker follows a group of soldiers in Bagdad who belong to a bomb disarming unit. Basically, the story develops right smack in the middle of the invasion of Iraq. United States has forcibly occupied the nation, they have invaded it by force. The people from Iraq are not happy with this so they organize terrorist attacks, by planting bombs in cars and buildings and even in the middle of the street. This is their attempt at somehow thwarting the United States ever growing control over their country. So in comes this small military unit in charge of dismantling these bombs. It’s a tough job but somebody has got to do it. What kind of toll will this war take on the psyche of these young men?

The reasons for all the hoopla are simple; this is a very well directed, acted, edited film. There are a couple of things that make it a special production though. Number one, the film was filmed in Jordan. Bigelow and crew flew themselves to East Asia and shot this film right there, in the eye of the storm as they say. Filming a movie this way, under a difficult political climate is not something new. It was done before in 2004 for a film called Turtles Can Fly from director Bahman Gohbadi; a very touching film that talks about the U.S. invasion of Iraq but from the perspective of the children who live there. Children who earn their money picking up live mines and re-selling them on the black market. It’s a very sad film, I highly recommend it if you enjoyed The Hurt Locker. But just because its been done before doesnt mean that filming The Hurt Locker was any less challenging for Bigelow and crew. Shooting a movie this way is a gargantuan task. To pull off such a good movie under those circumstances makes the film a great achievement in my book.

Kathryn Bigelow is known for making ‘macho’ films, even though she her self is not a macho. She’s a woman, which is really what makes her films stand out. It’s what has always set her apart from other female directors, who tend to focus on less action oriented films. And her films aren’t just action films, they are guy films. Main characters are guys being tough, robbing banks, jumping off airplanes and now, going to war. Bigelow put all her filmmaking experience on to this film. One look at it and you know there’s an experienced director behind the camera, the shots, the angles, the style. The documentary style is of course a great choice because it gives it all a news reel footage feel which we commonly associate with war images. Plus it puts us in on the action. But the handheld isn’t abused on this film. It’s a controlled thing, similar to what we saw in Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler (2008) where most of the film was filmed documentary style, but keeping camera movement under control. Loved that about The Hurt Locker.

The thing about The Hurt Locker is that it’s a great war film. It shows us not only the horrors of war, but it also shows us how the soldiers who go to war are affected by it on a personal and psychological level. These guys see death and dismemberment on a day to day basis, for real. These guys are shooting and killing and getting killed for real. Literally, your next breath might be your last. It’s hard to keep a sane mind under those circumstances and I loved how the movie addresses this from various angles. From the angle of the level headed soldier, doing his job, to the crazy loose cannon who’s all about doing things the reckless way. We also get to see things through the eyes of the one soldier who cant take the horrors of war and looses it. This movie is concerned with letting us know how these guys are transformed by the experience of war. They are never the same. I felt echoes of Stallone’s First Blood; where the man turned into a killing machine can no longer survive in a ‘normal society’. War calls him, like a drug. These soldiers are never the same when they come back. They are fractured souls and minds.

Other things I liked about the movie? Loved those moments when they are going to disarm a bomb. Lots of tension on this moments, especially when the people of Iraq are watching from their homes as these crazy American soldiers are disarming bombs in the middle of their streets. Bigelow directs the suspense with great precision. I liked that every now and then through out the film we get great little cameos that make the film better. Like Guy Pierce, Ralph Fiennes and David Morse. Kathryn Bigelow’s movies have always had a good soundtrack, always rock and rollish, and this one is no exception.

Performance wise, the movie wins as well. Jeremy Renner is getting all the buzz for possible Oscar nomination. He does a cold as stone soldier, living on the brink, with a devil may care attitude about him. Anthony Mackie out does himself as well, as the more level headed soldier, following the rules and the protocols, he hides his emotions, but at one point in the film he completely lets them out and it’s a great moment.

This is an all around excellent movie. Good production from all angles, made all the more special because of the circumstances and localizations in which they chose to shoot the film. One of Bigelow’s best. I hope she will continue making movies, and I hope she wins the Oscar for best director. Let’s face it; the best director award has NEVER been given to a woman! That has to do with the fact that not many women direct films, which is also wrong in my book. But I still find it surprising that only three woman have been nominated for this award, and it surprises me even more that not one of them has won it. I think The Hurt Locker is a film that the academy cannot ignore, and Bigelow’s direction is hard to miss as well. Here’s something interesting to think about: if Bigelow is nominated for best director for The Hurt Locker, and James Cameron gets nominated for best director for Avatar, then these two ex love birds will be fighting for the prestigious award. It will be interesting to see if she gets the nomination, and more interesting to see her beat Cameron to it. I loved Avatar, but between you and me, I’m rooting for Bigelow! After all, she was directing a tough film in the real world, sweating bullets underneath the dessert sun! Putting her life in peril behind the camera in a real location, not safely seating behind a computer monitor.

Rating: 5 out of 5

You go Kathryn, we're all rooting for ya!