Point Blank

1967  NR  DRAMA  1h 32min

CAST— Lee Marvin, Angie Dickinson, Keenan Wynn, Carroll O’Connor, Lloyd Bochner, Michael Strong, John Vernon

MUSIC— Johnny Mandel  DIRECTOR— John Boorman  BASED ON— The Hunter (novel), by Donald E. Westlake

     There isn’t much to tell. A thief, double-crossed by his partner and his wife, is shot and left to die in the abandoned cells of Alcatraz. After recovering, he sets out for revenge and to claim the stolen money that was stolen from him, $93,000. Along his merry way he makes plenty of enemies, of course. Strangely, after killing those who want him dead, they seem reluctant to pay up. Shot with San Francisco as a backdrop, the film moves along as smooth as sandpaper, leaving the viewer with an unpleasant aftertaste. Lee Marvin is in fine form, but this murky film fails to deliver any impact whatsoever. This was later remade with Mel Gibson. That was a stinker, too. Deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” by the United States Library of Congress National Film Registry.

OUR RATING— * ½

REMADE AS— Payback (1999)