GROSS POINTE BLANK

Grosse Pointe Blank takes a grim premise—a professional hit man returning home for his high school reunion—and turns it into a well-wrought dark comedy. Once Martin Blank arrives in Grosse Pointe, the film blossoms with unique character actors, clever dialogue, rapidly delivered one-liners, and an exceptionally funny sense of irony.

The cost is substantial. The humor is an acquired taste, and the graphic violence may overwhelm it. The story’s amoral but likable characters and ironic ending may also seem to a young viewer to accept professional killing as merely another unconventional career.

If you are an adult who enjoys black comedy and can handle strong content, it is worth the trip; families with children or young teens should choose something else.

Martin Blank left his small town to join the army and became a professional hit man. Now twenty-eight and sick of death and destruction, he returns to Grosse Pointe, Michigan, for his high school reunion and a chance to make a new start.

He finds Debi, the girlfriend he left behind, but also two government agents, his arch-nemesis, and a mysterious fellow assassin. Martin must confront the remnants of his old career while trying to reconnect with his past.

Three stars means this is a funny, well-made comedy with real weaknesses. The film begins awkwardly, with stiff scenes, stagy dialogue, and strange character work. Then, inexplicably, it finds its groove when Martin reaches Grosse Pointe.

From there, the eccentric bit players become unique and wildly funny. The dialogue turns clever, ironic, and even erudite. John Cusack’s screenwriting debut ultimately becomes a small gem of dark comedy.

Minnie Driver’s Debi is the sour note. Her eccentricities seem forced, and her acting is often jerky and stilted. Even so, the writing and character actors make the movie memorable.

The source describes the film as having a mildly biblical worldview that acknowledges a higher power and that life has meaning. That perspective is marred by dark and cynical themes, especially the treatment of professional killing as something that might be accepted as simply another divergence from the mainstream.

The film’s characters are amoral, though likable, and Martin is sick of death and destruction as he struggles to make a new start. The story finds humor in the contrast between his morbid occupation and his small-town past. Its irony can be perceptive, but it may also blur the moral seriousness of murder for younger viewers.

The film’s central longing is for meaning and a new beginning. Scripture asks a harder question about what a life is worth: “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” (Matthew 16:26)

This is a sharp, funny, dark comedy with clever writing and memorable characters. Its graphic violence and cynical treatment of professional killing make it unsuitable for children and young teens. For discerning adults with a taste for black comedy, the answer is WORTH THE TRIP — ADULTS ONLY. For family viewing, start here: