Black Point

I saw this DVD at the store and decided to give it a shot. And on a quiet Wednesday night, it provided some good entertainment, though I must admit to being a David Caruso fan since his days on NYPD Blue.

It is not a major motion picture. It is a small story about a broken man and how he is pulled to even lower depths by criminal figures. In many ways it reminded me of the John Sayles picture "Limbo". Though that film played a bit less overly dramatic, many of the themes were the same.

Caruso has a good supporting cast here, and I thought the editing lent quite a bit to the plot line which is full of questionable realities, and flashbacks.

The script has some unfortunate moments were the goings on just don't seem plausible. The Ice block/neck noose scene being a fine example.

But nevertheless, as the credits began to roll, I found that I had been drawn in to the story. I had rooted for the characters, and in the end I was not disappointed that I had paid a few bills to see this flick.

I was lucky to get to see Black Point at the LA permiere in December of 2001. I have always been a fan of David Caruso's, and every time I see him he just gets better and better. This film is no exception. The other lead actors are fantastic as well, Thomas Ian Griffith (also one of the writers) plays a "bad guy," but in a very appealing way and Susan Haskell is excellent in a breakout femme fatale kind of role.

It's hard to summarize the film without giving too much away, but in a nutshell, Caruso plays John Hawkins, a down and out former Navy Captain who is stuck in the small harbor town of the film's title, Black Point.

He meets Haskell in the sexy role of Natalie and just when he thinks his life is going to change for the better, it take a wild swing for the worse. Twists and turns abound and the action is innovative throughout.

I can't recommend this independent Canadian film enough.

There little worth commenting on in "Black Point", an obvious, hackneyed, journeyman, low budget B-flick which is just another in a very long line of films about a bunch of people after a bunch of money. The film has nothing original to offer and is so ordinary in every way that it's not worthy of commentary. I'm surprised this flick hasn't made it to cable yet (at least not in my market) as I watched it on DVD and I can't imagine it ever saw the light of a projector. Just more of the same old stuff which will have little value beyond fodder for the sofa spud looking for a no-brainer crime flick. (C)

I don't really know why I am bothering to comment on "Black Point". It is a really ordinary effort, even for a "B"-flick. Whilst I didn't sit down to watch this film (well DVD actually) with any high expectations, I was still disappointed with it. The acting was pedestrian at best but it was the script which really irritated. Things start out OK but as the plot progresses it makes less and less sense, such that the last 30 minutes are just a frenzied mess. It's bad, but unfortunately, not bad enough to be funny.

It gets 8 point because of Carusos performance. High performing as usual the Ex-NYPD-cop gets the best out of an otherwise very thin plot.Ex-marine loses his beloved daughter & falls in love with the woman of a high-rolling gangster.The woman - desperately wanting to leave her abusive husband - uses the ex-marine to get away from her marriage. Unfortunately the plot gets stuck in the sand when the woman changes her mind and decides to be on the ex-marines side AGAIN. How desperate must a guy be to take a woman back who put the wool over his eyes and made him a target for her enraged husband? The love scene was very awkward. I mean - having seen other Caruso movies I think the guy has some issues with kissing before camera. Anyway the guy's got so much potential and wastes it in a B-movie