POINT OF NO RETURN
A film review by Rick KLau
Copyright 1993 Rick KLau
Director: John Badham Producer: Art Linson Starring: Bridget Fonda, Gabriel Byrne, Dermot Mulroney With: Anne Bancroft and Harvey Keitel Screenplay: Robert Gechell and Alexandra Seros Music by: Hans Zimmer Length: 1 hour 55 minutes. Rated: R. brief nudity, graphic violence, language. Released by: Warner Bros.
In brief: Maggie (Bridget Fonda; SINGLE WHITE FEMALE) is a heroine addict arrested for the murder of a police officer. Recognizing her potential, the government offers her a choice: serve her country or die. What follows is her training and eventual service.
Based on Luc Besson's stylish NIKITA (released in the States as LA FEMME NIKITA), POINT OF NO RETURN is surprisingly good. While its trailers and print ads profess to be a run-of-the-mill action flick, the strength of the original and good performances by Fonda and Mulroney earn POINT OF NO RETURN good marks.
I first saw NIKITA two years ago at the Key theater in Georgetown. Anne Parillaud won the Cesar for Best Actress in her role as Nikita, and Luc Besson won acclaim in France for his efforts. Somewhat difficult to understand (from my point of view) were the negative reviews NIKITA received when it was released in the summer of 1991. The Washington Post complained that it lacked substance and mistook style for content; The New York Times had similar comments. I have seen NIKITA several times since that summer and each viewing brings only more appreciation for a wonderful film.
But this is a review of POINT OF NO RETURN. My initial fear as I entered the theater Friday night was that this would Americanize the plot without keeping the psychological crisis that the lead female experiences. Having seen several trailers on TV, I was already aware that POINT OF NO RETURN copied some scenes verbatim from NIKITA ... it seemed as if they had forsaken originality for expediency.
The plot and indeed the direction borrows heavily from Besson, although there are some notable departures. In an interview, Badham talked about Americanizing the characters - a gamble that in retrospect paid off. Even avid fans of NIKITA will feel as if they're seeing another side of someone they're very familiar with. Without taking away from the story, Badham manages to add his own touch to the characters (especially the part of Marco, Nikita's boyfriend and Bob, her sadistic supervisor). The net result is that Badham succeeds in tweaking the story while maintaining the thoroughly believable chemistry between the three principles.
The action scenes are very well choreographed. Fonda carries off the rebel attitude that undergoes a remarkable transformation while under the tutelage of Bob (Mulroney) and her instructor (Anne Bancroft). The only "improvement" on the original, I would argue, are the scenes between Fonda and Bancroft: Bancroft acts as if the part were written for her and Fonda seems to enjoy her "learning."
Harvey Keitel, in the role of Victor the cleaner, is credible, however he does not convey the same electricity that was present in the original. The role calls for a very intimidating persona; Keitel manages the mental intimidation but fails to instill physical fear.
The film does have its flaws, some technical and some artistic. Washington, DC does not have a death penalty yet Maggie (Fonda) is condemned to death after killing a DC cop. Badham's direction is not nearly as stylish as Besson's; often Badham mistakes a skewed camera angle for "style" and is often blunt when subtlety would serve his purpose better. Studio politics obviously had a hand in the directing as well: nowhere in the film are non-American cars obvious. Especially considering the environment that Maggie operates in, it's hard to believe that her targets would be driving Chevy Cavaliers. The product advertising was unnecessary (even an AfterDark box next to a Macintosh at one point) but did not distract from the film as a whole.
Of the two, NIKITA is by far the better, if only because it was original. Instead of seeming like a cheap imitation, POINT OF NO RETURN manages to come off like a decent copy. It's certainly enjoyable, although I would urge anyone who likes it to rent NIKITA as soon as possible.
RATING: On a scale of 0 to 10, POINT OF NO RETURN receives a 7.
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