Point Blank (2010 film)

Point Blank

French poster
Directed by Fred Cavayé
Produced by Cyril Colbeau-Justin
Jean-Baptiste Dupont
Written by Fred Cavayé
Guillaume Lemans
Starring Gilles Lellouche
Roschdy Zem
Gérard Lanvin
Elena Anaya
Music by Klaus Badelt
Cinematography Alain Duplantier
Edited by Benjamin Weill
Production
company
Distributed by Gaumont (France)
Magnolia Pictures (US)
Release dates
  • 1 December 2010 (2010-12-01)
Running time
 84 minutes
Country France
Language French
Budget €10.8 million[1]
Box office $9,230,157[2]

Point Blank (French: À bout portant) is a 2010 French action-thriller film directed by Fred Cavayé and starring Gilles Lellouche, Roschdy Zem, Gérard Lanvin, and Elena Anaya.[3] Its style differs from the typical American thriller, in that the hunted (and innocent) main character isn't a heroic figure of any kind, but just an ordinary man who becomes totally exhausted by running.

Plot

Samuel Pierret, a nurse's aide accompanies his pregnant wife Nadia (Elena Anaya) to her sonogram appointment where she is told that she must stay on her back for six weeks to avoid life-threatening complications. Meanwhile, Hugo Sartet, a safecracker and hired thief, is running from two hitmen. During the chase, he is hit by a motorcycle and rushed to the hospital where Samuel works. Shortly after, Samuel sees a man leave Hugo's bedside and arrives just in time to reinsert Hugo's respirator which had been unplugged. This prompts the police to set up a protection detail under the command of Captain Catherine Fabre. While discussing the assassination attempt, another captain, Patrick Werner, arranges to have jurisdiction of the case transferred to him, saying that he has been after Sartet for years.

When Samuel returns home that day, he and Nadia are attacked and she is abducted. Samuel gets a phone call saying that he must help Hugo Sartet escape from the hospital if he wants to see his wife again. At the hospital, the cop guarding Hugo's bed refuses to leave but Samuel is able to subdue him with a defibrillator. Samuel then wakes up Hugo with a shot of adrenaline and guides him outside while holding the cop's gun. When Nadia's captors call again, they are revealed to be Hugo's brother Luc working with a man named Marconi. The brothers arrange to set up the hostage trade at a nearby railway station but when Samuel and Hugo get there, Hugo notices the two men who were trying to kill him earlier. Knowing that they are dirty cops, Hugo persuades Samuel to turn around and flee to his apartment. While Hugo is showering, Samuel decides that he does not trust them to deliver his wife safely a second time and calls the police. Captain Fabre says that she is closest to the address Samuel gave and calls for backup. However, a group of police led by Captain Werner arrives first.

When Fabre bursts in moments later, Werner reacts to this unforeseen circumstance by shooting Fabre, revealing himself to be part of the conspiracy. Werner leaves and tells his men to finish off the others but Hugo gains the upper hand and coerces a confession out of a cop named Vogel. Vogel says that Werner enlisted Hugo with the help of Marconi to crack the safe as part of a plan to extort money from Francis Meyer, a millionaire who was recently murdered. Vogel also says that Werner forced Meyer to change his will, shot him in the head and kept a video of it as an insurance policy which is stored on a USB drive in his office. When the other police arrive, Samuel and Hugo must escape since they have been framed as cop killers. They flee to the warehouse where Nadia was being held but discover that Marconi has sold them out. Hugo's brother is dead and Nadia has been taken by the dirty cops until they can eliminate all witnesses. Hugo tracks down Marconi and kills him. He and Samuel then come up with a plan that will enable them to break into the police station.

Coordinated by Hugo's underground contacts, a series of robberies breaks out, forcing the police station into a frenzy. Samuel and Hugo arrive at the police station where Nadia is being held by a dirty cop named Moreau. Using the chaos to disguise themselves as police, Hugo goes to Werner's office and Samuel begins searching for his wife. Not at the police station, Werner discovers Marconi's body and tells Moreau to kill Nadia by pushing her out of the bathroom window, making it look like a suicide. Samuel arrives to find Nadia fighting for her life, and together, they are able to overpower Moreau and begin making their escape.

Hugo attempts to break into Werner's safe but runs out of time to crack it before Werner enters his office and immediately opens his safe to ensure the USB drive is safely there. Taking the upper hand, Hugo receives the drive by holding Werner at gunpoint. Before Hugo knocks the wind out of him, Werner taunts Hugo about how his brother died. Nadia begins to hemorrhage, finally showing symptoms that the doctor warned her about. As Samuel tries to stop the bleeding, he is recognized as a wanted man and taken away in handcuffs. He is passed by Hugo, still blending into the crowd, who slips a phone into Samuel's pocket with the USB drive attached. When he is a safe distance away, Hugo calls the phone, prompting Officer Susini to seize the USB drive as evidence against Samuel. Susini and other cops are already watching the tape when Werner arrives and he is too late to cover it up. Still in custody, Samuel is allowed to go the hospital to visit his wife, who has given birth to a healthy baby.

Here the film ends but an extended version exists.

Eight years later, the Pierret family is celebrating Christmas and Samuel hears a news report about Patrick Werner who is halfway through his prison sentence. The report mentions that Werner was released for one day, only to be found dead, hanging by a noose. Samuel stares, knowing that Hugo Sartet was responsible.

Cast

Remake

A 2014 South Korean remake titled The Target starred Ryu Seung-ryong and Lee Jin-wook in the leading roles, and was directed by Chang (Yoon Hong-seung).[4]

Ravi K. Chandran will direct a Bollywood remake, set to begin production in 2015.[5]

References

  1. ↑ "A bout portant (Point Blank) (2010)". JP's Box-Office.
  2. ↑ "Point Blank (2011)". Box Office Mojo. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2012-06-19.
  3. ↑ Jordan Mintzer, Variety (December 1, 2010)
  4. ↑ Lee, Eun-sun (15 May 2014). "Family matters a focus in Yoon's action film". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2014-05-16.
  5. ↑ "French thriller Point Blank to be remade in Hindi". The Times of India. 4 June 2014. Retrieved 2014-06-04.
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