Point Break
Chad'z rating: ** (out of 4 = fair)
1991, R, 122 minutes [2 hours, 2 minutes]
[thriller]
starring: Keanu Reeves (Johnny Utah), Patrick Swayze (Bodhi), Gary Busey (Pappas), Lori Petty (Tyler), written by W. Peter Iliff, Rick King, produced by Peter Abrams, Robert L. Levy, directed by Kathryn Bigelow.
Although "Point Break" is one of the most cliche action/crime movies I've ever seen, it is tolerable to watch because its premise of crime as the ultimate rush gives the film a unique hook. However, that theme could have been conveyed better by not shoving it down our throats.
The story is a retread of staple action and crime formulas: the rookie and the seasoned pro; the crime fighting camaraderie; the mean, cynical captain; the rookie who almost blows his cover; the woman who falls for the rookie; and of course the uncatchable criminals. Surprisingly enough, the beginning of the film and the establishing of these elements work rather well.
Keanu Reeves stars as Johnny Utah (could that name be any more made up?), a rookie FBI agent who is paired with Pappas (Busey), the veteran who has been trying to catch a gang of bank robbers known as the Ex-Presidents for years. We get some details and interesting detective work that leads them to believe the robbers are surfers, and so Johnny goes undercover to try and find the criminals.
One of the cardinal rules of undercover stories is that the hunky hero must be involved with a woman so the bad guys can later use her for blackmail. Lori Petty plays that role to the letter as Tyler, a surfer who Johnny manages to seduce to teach him how to surf and to absorb him into the community. Now this is all fine and good, and it doesn't seem too predictable at the time, but the film lingers on the joy of surfing a little too much. Reeves is a fine actor, but he isn't convincing when he is having an adrenaline rush. He's even less convincing when he infiltrates the community and is "accepted" by Bodhi (Swayze), a drifter in pursuit of "The Ultimate Rush."
The first act builds up to a fantastic action scene as Utah, Pappas, and the FBI bust who they thought were the Ex-Presidents, but turn out to be just drug dealers. Then everything starts to conviently fall into place: Johnny realizes the bank robbers have been under his nose all along and somehow figures out where they will strike next. Then there are some more over-the-top action sequences, and a part of me couldn't help getting caught up in the action and thrill of it all. I was impressed by some of the camera work during the chase scene, but as soon as it ended the film took a drastic nose dive.
The final act of really lost me. Johnny knows Bodhi and his friends are the Ex-Presidents and vice versa, but they all continue to act like friends. They take Johnny skydiving and we think this will be another action-packed escape scene but it's not. In fact, throughout this film there are many scenes of surfing and skydiving that serve no purpose but to try and get the viewer pumped because the story is not interesting nor clever enough to do it.
By the end we get many shoot-outs and nearly everyone dies. The final scene is what should be a case of poetic justice, but turns out to be something that's just plain dumb.
"Point Break" certainly had great potential to it. It could have been an intricate crime and detective story or it could have been just a drama about finding the greatest rush. Unfortunately, it tries to mix both with gratuitous stunts and adventure, and the result is another action flick in disguise.
e-mail: ChadPolenz@aol.com (C) 1997 Chad Polenz
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