The Comic Critic Reviews "Point Blank"

Lee Marvin might have fallen into his acting career, but he was a natural as a hardboiled tough guy. He became one of Hollywood’s iconic leading men and parlayed the power he wielded to work with the directors he wanted on the projects he wanted. Point Blank was one of those projects. Filmed in the Sixties, the movie hyper-focused on a particular look, Mod, from the word Modernist. The clothing, furniture, and art were the most recent in style and production. Clean sharp lines, shapes, and textures created the look. The mod scene consisted of coffee houses, jazz music, cocktails, and a desire to look graceful with simplicity, fueled by America’s post-WWII economic boom and mass production. It’s in this glossy utopian world that Point Blank is set. The clothing, props, and buildings show little of the past nor any hint of the emerging hippy esthetic. When such breaches do occur, they are for a reason. Alcatraz, from which our hero emerges at the beginning of the movie, sits on the bay like a tombstone of past mobsters in a cemetery. A careful viewing of Point Blank will show the importance of the imagery to the underlying tone and message of the film. The creative world-building is just one of many elements that turned a fairly decent, hardboiled thriller into a cult classic thoroughly enjoyed by film critics and fans. Point Blank might be a time capsule to a specific look from the ‘60s, but the underlying story in this work of thrilling suspense gives it legs. And it is one of several films that provide a worthy legacy to Lee Marvin and the others involved in its production.