Point Blank (2010 film)

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] The film released on 1 December 2010. Unlike many Hollywood films of the same genre, this film lacks the a typical super hero. The victim is a very ordinary man who even becomes breathless whilst forced to run.

Point Blank
French poster
Directed byFred Cavayé
Produced byCyril Colbeau-Justin
Jean-Baptiste Dupont
Written byFred Cavayé
Guillaume Lemans
StarringGilles Lellouche
Roschdy Zem
Gérard Lanvin
Elena Anaya
Music byKlaus Badelt
CinematographyAlain Duplantier
Edited byBenjamin Weill
Production
company
Distributed byGaumont (France)
Magnolia Pictures (US)
Release date
  • 1 December 2010 (2010-12-01)
Running time
84 minutes
CountryFrance
LanguageFrench
Budget$10.3 million [1]
Box office$9.2 million [2]

Plot

Samuel Pierret, a nurse's aide, accompanies his pregnant wife Nadia (Elena Anaya) to her sonogram appointment where she is told to stay in bed to avoid complications. Meanwhile, Hugo Sartet, a safecracker and hired thief, is running from two hitmen. When he is hit by a motorcycle, the hitmen flee and he is rushed to Samuel's hospital. Samuel sees a man leave Hugo's bedside and arrives just in time to reinsert Hugo's unplugged respirator. This attack prompts the police to provide security under Captain Catherine Fabre. While discussing the assassination attempt, another captain, Patrick Werner, arranges to have jurisdiction transferred to him, saying that Sartet is linked to his Meyer case.

When Samuel returns home, he and Nadia are attacked and she is abducted. Samuel gets a call saying he must help Sartet escape if he wants to see his wife again. At the hospital, the policeman guarding Hugo refuses to let Sartet leave but Samuel subdues him with a defibrillator. Samuel wakes Hugo with adrenaline and forces him to leave using the policeman'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 the hostage trade at a railway station but when Samuel and Hugo arrive, Hugo notices the two hitmen. Knowing they are dirty cops, Hugo persuades Samuel to flee to his apartment. While Hugo is showering, Samuel decides he does not trust them to return his wife and calls Fabre. However, police led by Captain Werner arrives first.

When Fabre arrives, Werner shoots her, revealing himself to be crooked. Werner tells his men to kill the others and leaves but Samuel and Hugo overcomes them and Hugo coerces information from a cop named Vogel. Vogel says Werner enlisted Hugo with Marconi's help to crack wealthy Meyer's safe to cover up Meyer's murder, intending to kill Hugo after the job. Vogel says Werner kept a video of the involvement of Meyer's son to use as blackmail on a USB drive in his office. He also says that Marconi betrayed Hugo. When further police arrive, Samuel and Hugo flee since they have been framed as cop killers. They head for the warehouse where Nadia was but discover that Hugo's brother is dead and Nadia has been abducted until the dirty cops eliminate all witnesses. Hugo finds Marconi and kills him. He and Samuel come up with a plan to break into the police station.

Coordinated by Hugo's underground contacts, a series of robberies breaks out, forcing the station into chaos. Samuel and Hugo arrive at the station where Nadia is held by a dirty cop named Moreau. Using the chaos to disguise themselves as police, Hugo goes to Werner's office and Samuel searches for Nadia. Elsewhere, Werner discovers Marconi's body and tells Moreau to push Nadia out of the window, to mimic suicide. Samuel arrives to find Nadia struggling: they overpower Moreau and escape.

Hugo attempts to break into Werner's safe but runs out of time before Werner arrives and opens it to ensure the USB drive is safe. Hugo obtains the drive at gunpoint. Werner taunts Hugo about how his brother died. Nadia begins to hemorrhage, as the doctor warned. As Samuel tries to stop the bleeding, he is recognized as wanted and arrested. Hugo, blending into the crowd, slips a phone into Samuel's pocket with the USB drive attached. At a safe distance, Hugo calls the phone, prompting Officer Susini to seize the drive as evidence against Samuel. Susini and other cops are already watching the video when Werner arrives, too late. In custody, Samuel is allowed to visit his wife, who has given birth.

Extended version

Eight years later, the Pierret family is celebrating Christmas and Samuel hears news about Werner, halfway through his sentence. The report mentions that Werner was released for one day, only to be found hanged. Samuel concludes that Hugo was responsible.

Cast

Remakes

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]

A 2019 Bangla film unofficial remake titled Password starred Bangladeshi Superstar Shakib Khan in the leading role[6] and was directed by Malek Afsary.

In 2018, Frank Grillo, Anthony Mackie, and Marcia Gay Harden filmed the American remake titled Point Blank. It is set in Cincinnati, directed by Joe Lynch and produced by Netflix.[7]

In 2019, an Indian Tamil-language remake titled Kadaram Kondan was released.[8]

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. Mintzer, Jordan (December 2, 2010). "Point Blank".
  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.
  6. "Shakib Khan starrer Password ripped off Korean film The Target". www.bangladeshpost.net. Retrieved 2019-06-27.
  7. Kroll, Justin (June 22, 2018). "Frank Grillo, Anthony Mackie to Reunite in 'Point Blank' Remake".
  8. S, Srivatsan (July 24, 2019). "I was clear that Vikram had less dialogues: Rajesh M Selva on 'Kadaram Kondan'" – via www.thehindu.com.
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