Point Men

Hard to believe that the director of this film was once trusted with directing some of the films in the James Bond series. This is a worse than average action film, badly written, acted and directed. The subject is of an Israeli anti-terrorist squad mistakenly targeting the wrong man, and as a result its members becoming the target of a revenge series of murders. The way the Israeli ambiance and individuals are being described is completely wrong, and the complete idealization of the Israeli side does not help. The Middle East conflict is much more complex than a good vs. bad guys gun fight, but even for an action movie there are not too many new, unexpected or interesting things to be seen. A waste of time - 3 out of 10 on my personal scale.

(2001) The Point Men THRILLER

Adapted from a novel "The Heat of Ramadan" by Steven Hartov which opens with a failed assassination attempt at a Palestinian terrorist led by anti- terrorist covert, Tony Eckhardt (Christopher Lambert). It turns out the intended target, Amar Kamil (Vincent Regan), and as a result of not knowing what he actually looks like, he is able to turn the tables and execute each member from Eckhardt's team.

Some of those executions conducted by the terrorist outsmarting the anti-terrorist unit was 100% avoidable, any one of them can be used as bait to lure the terrorist to them. It was dumb from the beginning.

I have seen most of Christopher Lamberts movies. I have several favourites like "Highlander 1-3" (of course, Resurrection, Fortress and "The Hunted". I think that "Fortress 2" wasn´t that good, so I really was looking forward to this movie. Lambert plays the agent Tony from Israel(!), he is hunting a terrorist with his group. They kill a guy, who they think is the terrorist but Tony is sure that they have killed the wrong dude. One by one the terrorist (with his new plasticsurgery-face) kills Tonys groupmembers. It´s easy to understand what will happen next. The filming is like they have made the film with a handycam. It is very low-budget-style when they have their carchase in the beginning of the film. Lamberts performance is very solid and I really hope that he will find a better script, because the other film he has made this year also became a sad story for us Lambert-fans. We want you back in the parts that made you the one you are today. Like in "Knight moves", "The Hunted" or "resurrection". It doesnt have to be a fantastic story like in "Beowulf" or "Mortal Kombat" but something that you can understand and still is very exciting. I can not say other than that this movie was a cheap try to make a political thriller. 4 / 10

Rare are the authors that are able to create a vivid movie about the clashes of Israeli hitmen and Arab terrorists. 007 - veteran John Glen joined the legion of these greats with his latest feature THE POINT MEN. "Ripley Highsmith"`s script (based on Steve Hartov`s novel THE HEAT OF RAMADAN) served as an exceptional reason for the reunion of the reliable B - cast that doesn`t even warm the bench in the mainstream cinema these days. Action fans eventually got an opportunity to enjoy a pretty smart conception of heartwarming cliches from the , allegedly dead, MOSSAD - genre that was revived by an intelligent script, above average budget and Glen`s crafty direction of gunfights and car chases where bullets really hit the flesh and real cars get smashed up. No comment belongs out of this statement. There`s just home cinema for all those action buffs who craved for a good flip of an expensive Mercedes ever since McTiernan`s DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE.

The movie Point Men is essentially a start to finish action movie. Director John Glen gives a trademark stylish view of terrorism set in the middle east. The story is horrific, and even more so knowing it's actually based on a true story.

Cinematographer Alec Mills makes the film look very real and gives it the air it needs in forming an atmosphere that's both nice to watch and somewhat difficult to look at as it depicts the tone of violence in an very effective way.

Although the film has obvious lack of budget, John Glen somehow manages to make an effective action film that mainly look gloss and feature some breathtaking driving sequences.

It has, in glimpses, a sort of Glen's Bond feel to it. The performance from C.Lambert is at his best. Although that doesn't say too much as I have a sneaking suspicion he just about always acts as himself.

I'd give it a 7/10 for it's Glen/Mills/Lambert touch.