Grosse Pointe Blank

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. It stars Cusack, Minnie Driver, Alan Arkin and Dan Aykroyd and follows the story of assassin Martin Q. Blank (Cusack), who returns to his hometown of Grosse Pointe, Michigan to attend a high school reunion. The film's score was composed by Joe Strummer, former member of the punk rock band the Clash; the film's soundtrack contains a number of popular and alternative punk rock, ska and new wave songs. Grosse Pointe Blank was released by Buena Vista Pictures, receiving generally positive reviews from critics and grossing $31 million.

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. Martin's job in Miami, in which he was told to make the target appear to have died of natural causes, goes awry and he is forced to shoot the target. 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. In Grosse Pointe, Martin reconnects with his childhood friend Paul and high school sweetheart, Debi Newberry, now a radio DJ, whom Martin had abandoned on prom night to enlist in the Army. Martin is stalked by Felix LaPoubelle, another hitman, who attempts to kill Martin. He is also followed by two National Security Agency agents who were tipped off to Martin's contract by Grocer. Martin remains distracted by his desire to reconcile with Debi and procrastinates in opening the dossier on his target. Grocer reveals that LaPoubelle was hired by a wealthy dog owner whose prize retriever was killed on one of Martin's previous assignments. Martin reveals that he knows Grocer put the agents on his trail and again refuses to join the union. Debi is conflicted about her feelings for Martin, but he manages to persuade her to attend the reunion with him. At the reunion Martin and Debi rekindle their relationship as they dance together intimately, and sneak off to have sex. Martin runs into LaPoubelle, whom he kills in self defense. Debi stumbles upon the scene and flees the reunion in shock. Debi confronts Martin in his hotel room. He reveals 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. Martin assures Debi that he accepts only contracts on corrupt individuals. His efforts to rationalize his work anger Debi and she rejects his attempts at reconciliation. Martin decides to retire from being a contract killer. 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. He discovers the target is Debi's father, Bart, who is scheduled to testify against Martin's client. Grocer decides to kill Bart himself to impress Martin's client and eliminate Martin as a competitor. Martin abandons the contract, saves Bart and takes him home. Grocer, his cohorts, and the NSA agents descend upon the house. 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 Debi again, he has developed a newfound respect for life. Martin kills Grocer's henchmen and they both shoot the NSA agents when they burst onto the scene. Out of ammunition, Martin takes out Grocer with a TV set. Martin proposes marriage to Debi, who is too stunned by the killing spree to respond, though Debi's father quips, "You have my blessing." Debi and Martin leave Grosse Pointe together, with Martin visibly cheerful, and Debi confessing 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. He picked the title while substitute teaching for an English class at Upland High School, writing the title on the classroom's whiteboard to see how it would look on a movie theater marquee. For example, Jeremy Piven's character, Paul Spericki, was originally named after Jankiewicz's best friend during high school, although the name was changed during filming.</blockquote>

Only the aerial footage of Lakeshore Drive was actually shot in Grosse Pointe. In the United States, it was released the same month as Romy and Michele's High School Reunion, another 1980s themed high school reunion film that Disney was involved with.

Grosse Pointe Blank received positive reviews from critics. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a rating of 81%, based on 72 reviews, with an average rating of 7.10/10. 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." Metacritic gave the film a score of 76 out of 100, based on reviews from 27 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone magazine wrote a positive review. Travers praised the writing as "smart, not smartass", praised director George Armitage for smashing action scenes that reveal character, praised Aykroyd and the talented cast in smaller supporting roles, and ultimately said the film "flies on Cusack’s seductive malevolence," and called him a marvel. Roger Ebert gave the film 2.5 stars out of 4. 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.

The score for Grosse Pointe Blank was composed by Joe Strummer, formerly of the Clash, and the soundtrack includes two songs by the Clash: "Rudie Can't Fail" and their cover version of Willi Williams' "Armagideon Time". 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. While most songs played throughout the film (especially at the reunion) had been recorded by the time of the students' graduation in 1986, several songs were recorded later. Joe Strummer's scoring captured music that aired before their graduation in 1986 as well as newer songs that were thematically in line with the '80s music, but which were released in time for the 10 year reunion in 1996. The post graduation/pre reunion songs include:

The Guns N' Roses version of Paul McCartney's "Live and Let Die", heard in the scene where Martin first visits the Ultimart, was released in 1991. Los Fabulosos Cadillacs' "Matador", heard during the dance scene at the reunion, was released in 1993. The Specials' version of "Pressure Drop", played by Debi at the radio station during her "'80s weekend", was released in 1996. Eels' "Your Lucky Day in Hell", heard when Martin and Debi visit the Hippo Club for drinks, was also released in 1996. The soundtrack album reached number 31 on the Billboard 200 chart, prompting the release of a second volume of songs from the film.

The film was released on VHS and DVD in 1998 in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Australia and New Zealand.