Point Blank is a 2019 thriller about an emergency room nurse who teams up with an injured murder suspect in a race against time, rival criminals and renegade cops.
There’s plenty of actors working hard in Hollywood in need of a bigger break, and nearing the top of that list has got to be Anthony Mackie, a guy whose found himself in some of the most successful movies of all time playing a superhero but sort of set off to the sidelines. Obviously, some doors have opened, though he’s yet to get the leading role he deserves. With director Joe Lynch‘s latest effort, the generically-titled Point Blank, he is well cast and absolutely comes loaded to sell the hell out of what he’s given. However, despite a good setup and plenty that should make this a very good time, it never quite finds its stride, leaving it entertaining enough but ultimately less that it feels ready to be.
After tough guy criminal Abe (Frank Grillo) and his brother Mateo (Christian Cooke) make off with a USB drive loaded with some very potent information, things go very badly after Abe is struck by a car. Now unconscious in the emergency room, he falls under the care of a nurse named Paul (Mackie), who is about to have a baby with his ultra-pregnant wife Taryn (Teyonah Parris). Too bad some very bad people want the lost drive, including Mateo, who, in a moment of desperation, kidnaps Taryn, forcing Paul to sneak Abe out of the hospital, but with pressure coming in from all sides and from unexpected places, a pair of unlikely partnerships are made in trying to stay ahead of the pack, including detective Lewis (Marcia Gay Harden) on the hunt for them all.
From the explosive opening moments, Point Blank looks to be a sturdy action thriller with urgency and a taste for stylized violence, the first five minutes of the whole show setting a standard that make it feel like we’re in for something smart and slick. It’s not quite that, but at least Lynch works hard to deliver the goods, throwing in whatever he can to keep his audience interested.
That means dips in the drama where curious runs of comedy steer things off the road, with the most strange being a kingpin named Big D played by Markice Moore, showing up doing everything he can to be Kevin Hart. There’s also the ready-to-deliver Taryn endlessly moments away from dropping a kid, which do lead to a few inspired bits though run dry not long after it all begins.
There’s still much to get comfortable with, especially, as you’ve no doubt guessed, Mackie, who juggles quite a lot of the action, drama, and comedy throughout. He never feels out of place and even as the script might bend and nearly break, he stays convincing from the start. He and Grillo get traction out of their Odd Couple shenanigans with the movie making wide swings from silly to sentimental, earning more than few emotional stings. It’s a short watch, at around 85 minutes, though its tonal peaks and valleys struggle to keep corralled all it wants to be.