Grosse Pointe Blank is a 1997 American black comedy film directed by George Armitage from a screenplay by Tom Jankiewicz, D. V. DeVincentis, Steve Pink and John Cusack.
As Los Angeles-based professional assassin Martin Blank prepares for a job, his assistant, Marcella, informs him that he has received an invitation to his ten-year high school reunion.
A rival assassin, Grocer, approaches him about joining his fledgling union, which Martin refuses, preferring to work alone.
His client firm demands that he make amends by killing a Federal witness in Detroit, Michigan, close to his hometown of Grosse Pointe, where the reunion is taking place.
Martin remains distracted by his desire to reconcile with Debi and procrastinates in opening the dossier on his target.
He explains that, when he joined the Army, his psychological profile indicated a "moral flexibility" that prompted the Central Intelligence Agency to recruit him as an assassin, after which he decided to freelance.
He fires his psychiatrist, Oatman, over the phone, provides Marcella with a generous severance, and finally opens the dossier detailing the contract that brought him to Grosse Pointe.
During the siege, Martin tells Debi that he left her on prom night to protect her from his homicidal urges; however, having fallen in love with her again, he has developed a newfound respect for life.
Martin is visibly cheerful, and Debi confesses on her prerecorded radio show that she's decided to give love another chance.
Screenwriter Tom Jankiewicz wrote the initial script for Grosse Pointe Blank in 1991 after receiving an invitation to his 10th high school reunion.
There is also the wordplay ("point blank"), which is a ballistics term of reference to the distance a bullet travels before dropping from the firearm's bore axis.
[2] Jankiewicz simultaneously worked as a substitute teacher and a cashier at a Big Lots in Upland, California, to make ends meet before his script was picked up for production.
[4]Armitage says he shot several endings: I'm usually rather rough on studio heads in terms of creative help, but after seeing the audience so angry at Alec Baldwin dying in Miami Blues, I decided that on Grosse Pointe Blank, this time, dealing with another psychopath, another sociopath, John's character—I just wanted him to survive, and we shot so many different endings.
And Joe Roth said at one of the screenings: "When the father says 'You've got my blessing' in the bathtub at the end, after the shoot-out, just cut to the two of them leaving."
The website's critical consensus reads: "A high-concept high school reunion movie with an adroitly cast John Cusack and armed with a script of incisive wit.
He praised the chemistry between the lead actors and enjoyed the dialogue, but considered it a "near-miss", wishing for a wittier, more articulate ending rather than an action sequence.
In addition to the Clash, the tracks featured in the film are largely a mix of popular and alternative 1980s punk rock, ska, and new wave from such bands as Violent Femmes, Echo & the Bunnymen, the Specials, the Jam, Siouxsie and the Banshees and A-ha.
Both films are similar in style and theme, and both star John as an assassin and his sister Joan as his assistant, with Dan Aykroyd in a supporting role.