Samuel is a nurse working at a hospital when his pregnant wife is kidnapped before his very eyes. Knocked unconscious, he comes to and discovers that a dangerous criminal named Sartet is responsible, and if he's ever to see his wife again, he must do Sartet's bidding. Samuel quickly finds himself pitted against rival gangsters and trigger-happy police in a deadly race to save the lives of his wife and unborn child.

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11006 in DVD
• Released on: 2011-12-06
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Running time: 84 minutes

Most helpful customer reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful.
The way it should be done
By Vernon P. Martinazzi
Point Blank is an example of how a movie is this genre should be written. Using a premise that has been used many times, that of an everyday individual thrown into a situation well out of the norm of his everyday life, having to respond to save something important to him. Crisply written, intelligent and exciting. The wholesale suspension of belief explained as artistic license required for most films in this genre is for the most part unnecessary in this movie. And that just adds to the ability to relate to and sympathize with the protagonist. Bravo!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
Taut, engaging French crime thriller
By DJ Joe Sixpack
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"Point Blank" ("A Bout Portant")
(Magnolia Home Entertainment, 2011)
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This French action-thriller comes solidly out of the average-guy-caught-in-the-middle-of-a-violent-world-of-crime genre that American stars like Harrison Ford and Bruce Willis have headlined for years. The plot isn't particularly original: a schnookish assistant nurse runs afoul of a criminal organization when he saves the life of a patient they had earlier tried to kill. His pregnant wife gets kidnapped, and the kidnappers demand that he do what they tell him to... Well, you know the drill. What's different here is the realistic tone of the violence, often crude and brutish, but stylish and cool when it makes sense, and always with a palpable believability that is often lacking in American shoot-em-ups. The casting is also great, lots of interesting, unusual faces and several strong performances, especially Gilles Lellouche as the hero, Roschdy Zem as his unwilling criminal ally, and Spanish actress Elena Anaya as a tough, tomboyish cop, adding another triumph to her long string of stunning performances in European film (see also: "Mesrine," "The Skin I Live In" and "Talk To Her") Not a terribly original script, but a very good, well-directed action film. (DJ Joe Sixpack, Slipcue film reviews)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
French take on 'Die Hard' that really tries too Hard
By Tommy D
This is a French crime thriller which has borrowed a bit from the `Die Hard' franchise. It tells the story of trainee nurse Samuel Pierret (Gilles Lellouche), whose wife is very heavily pregnant. One night a man is taken into the Hospital after he has suffered a stomach laceration and been run over by a (quite fast) motorbike. He is on a ventilator, and not in a good way. Someone cuts the life saving tube and he starts to suffocate. Samuel spots it just in time and saves the mans life.

That was a big mistake; this guy is a wanted high calibre thief - Hugo Sartet (Roscidy Zem). His compatriots have followed Samuel home and then decide to take his wife hostage and force him to `spring' their boss. Samuels wife has been told she is in danger of losing the baby and has to spend the rest of her pregnancy lying down, so this brutal interruption sends Sam a bit desperate. He decides to do all it takes to get her back.

He goes back into work (after a night shift) and puts a rather crude plan into operation, meanwhile the Gendarmes have taken fingerprints from the unknown guy and are heading back to ask some pesky questions. The cops are also investigating the murder of an uber rich business guy, but are the matters linked?

Well this tries to avoid formulaic plot developments, and has some brilliant touches. I liked the French police driving Alfa Romeos. There is an however, and that is the number of plot holes. If you just go with the flow, then this is an excellent action movie, with full throttle action, double crosses and plot twists, but the contrivances just took something away for me.

I am a big fan of World Cinema and especially love European Cinema and I think Director Fred Cavaye has done an above average job, but some of the artifice he uses means that this is hard to take that seriously. If you want to suspend belief for 84 mins, with full on action, some blood and guts and some really rather good performances from all involved, then this will tick your boxes, if you thought `Anything For Her' was a bit of a stretch, then best to avoid.