Grosse Point Blank

(1997)

as Martin Q. Blank




Taglines: Even a hit man deserves a second shot.

A comedy about a hit man, a high school reunion, and the girl he left behind.

Plot: Martin Blank (John!) is a freelance hitman who starts to develop a conscience, which causes him to muff a couple of routine assignments. On the advice of his secretary and his psychiatrist, he attends his 10th year High School reunion in Grosse Pointe, Michigan (a Detroit suburb where he's also contracted to kill someone). Hot on his tail are a couple of over-enthusiastic federal agents, another assassin who wants to kill him, and Grocer, an assassin who wants him to join an "Assassin's Union."

Noteworthy Actresses: Minnie Driver and Joan Cusack

Other Noteworthy Actors: Dan Aykroyd, Hank Azaria, Jeremy Piven

John Quotes: [Martin] Debi's house.
[Paul] Kinda crept up on you, didn't it?
[Martin] No, you drove us here.
[Paul] *pause* Yep.

[Martin] Did you go to your high-school reunion?
[Marcella] Yes, I did. It was just as if everybody had swelled.

*Talking to his psychiatrist about going to his high school reunion* "They all have husbands and wives and children and houses and dogs, and, you know, they've all made themselves a part of something and they can talk about what they do. What am I gonna say? 'I killed the president of Paraguay with a fork. How've you been?'"

"A BMW? In Detroit? That's sacrilege!"

[Grocer] After we do your job, we're gonna do another job.
[Martin] Tell me about it.
[Grocer] Like I'm gonna put a bullet hole in your fuckin' forehead, and I'm gonna fuck the brain hole!

"If I show up at your door, chances are you did something to bring me there."

*To Debi's father, while fleeing from Grocer* "I was hired to kill you. But I'm not going to. It's either because I'm in love with your daughter or I have a newfound respect for life."--Martin
*In pursuing car* "That punk's either in love with that guy's daughter or he's got a newfound respect for life."--Grocer

[Dr. Oatman] Martin, I'm emotionally involved with you.
[Martin Blank] How are you emotionally involved with me?
[Dr. Oatman] I'm afraid of you.
[Martin Blank] You're afraid of me.
[Dr. Oatman] And that constitutes an emotional involvement, and it would be unethical for me to work with you under those circumstances.

[Martin] You don't know my cat. It's very demanding.
[Debi] "It"? You don't know if it's a boy or a girl?
[Martin] I respect its privacy.

[Martin] Why are you so interested in me going to my high school reunion? [Marcella] I just find it amusing that you came from somewhere.

[Debi] So, what have you been doing with your life?
[Martin] Professional Killer.
[Debi] Oh...you get dental with that?

[Debi] You know what you need?
[Martin] What?
[Debi] Shakabuku.
[Martin] You wanna tell me what that means?
[Debi] It's a swift, spiritual kick to the head that alters your reality forever.
[Martin] Oh, that'd be good. I think.

"Thousands of innocent people die every day. Detonate one rich guy's dog, and you're a marked man for life."

"It's true what they say Oatman, you can never go home again, but I guess you can shop there."

[Debi] You're a psychopath.
[Martin] No, no. Psychopaths kill for no reason. I kill for *money*. It's a *job*. That didn't come out right.

[Martin] I'm a professional killer.
[Paul] Do you have to do post-graduate work for that?

[Mr. Newberry] What have you been doing with yourself?
[Martin] Uh, professional killer.
[Mr. Newberry] Good for you. Growth industry.

[Amy] What do you do?
[Martin] I work at Kentucky Fried Chicken. I sell biscuits and gravy all over the Southlands.

[Waitress] What do you want in your omelette, sir?
[Martin] Nothing in the omelette, nothing at all.
[Waitress] Well, that's not technically an omelette.
[Martin] Look, I don't want to get into a semantic argument, I just want the protein.

*Into the mirror, preparing for his high school reunion* "Hi, remember me? I'm not married, I don't have any kids, and I'd blow your head off if someone paid me enough."

[Dr. Oatman] Don't kill anybody for a few days. See what it feels like.
[Martin] I'll give it a shot.
[Dr. Oatman] No, don't shoot anybody.

[Mr. Newberry] Did I have you figured wrong?
[Martin] I don't know - I mean I hope so.
[Mr. Newberry] I visualised you in a haze as one of those slackster, flannel-wearing, coffee-house misanthropes I've been seeing in Newsweek.
[Martin] No no no, I went the other road. Six figures, doing business with leadpipe cruelty, mercenery sensibility. You know... sports, sex, no real relationships. How about you - how have the years been treating you?
[Mr. Newberry] Well you know me Martin - still the same old sell-out, exploiting the oppressed...
[Martin] Sure.
[Mr. Newberry] Ah what a piece of work is man, how noble... oh fuck it, let's have a drink and forget the whole damn thing.

Trivia: The attempted killing of the bicycle messenger as he rides down the hill in the first scene is a reference to the "I want my two dollars" bike-riding paperboy who menaces John Cusack's character in Better Off Dead... (1985).

The director/producer originally planned to shoot the high school scenes at Grosse Pointe South High, but did not get permission from the school board. They felt that it would be inappropriate to show someone graduating from Grosse Pointe's school system to become a hit man. Grosse Pointe has two high schools, Grosse Pointe South and Grosse Pointe North, but there is no "Pointe High."

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My Thoughts: I know i said Con Air was one of my faves, but this one out ranks it. Its my all time fave, see this!! Now! I mean, now! Go...shoo...lol ;-)