Point Blank

Point Blank is a landmark film in a genre that can best be described as 70's noir. Steve McQueen may have given birth to anti-hero cool in "The Great Escape", but Lee Marvin perfected it in this classic anti-establishment tale of a thief who is betrayed by his wife and partner. Marvin looks like your grandpa's VFW drinking buddy, but he fills the screen and grabs your attention like few actors can. It's hard to describe what screen cool is, but Marvin and McQueen have it in spades. By design, the movie is dated. However, that matters little when you find yourself rooting for a guy who most people have no business rooting for. He is bad but noble. He will stop at nothing to get his $93,000, but will not take any more. He is ruthless but fair and there is nothing cooler than that. That's what makes this movie great.

Grade: A-