Original Release Date: July 12, 1991
Directed by Kathryn Bigelow
Written by Rick King (story) & W. Peter Iliff (story and screenplay)
Cast: Patrick Swayze, Keanu Reeves, Gary Busey, Lori Petty, John C. McGinley, Anthony Kiedis (cameo), Tom Sizemore (uncredited cameo)
Soundtrack: Mark Isham
Can I let you in on a well-guarded secret?
This movie is overrated.
Now, listen, I’m not saying “It sucks” or “It’s trash” or “It’s garbage”, or anything like that. I’m merely saying that it doesn’t live up to the reputation that precedes it.
To be sure, there are individual moments of brilliance throughout the film (“Utah! Get me two!”), but, all-in-all, it just doesn’t form a cohesive whole. Are there Gary Busey moments? Obviously, yes. Are there amazing stunt set-pieces? Yes, a few. Was I at any time actually emotionally invested in the film? No. And that’s a problem. It would be less of a problem if not for the movie’s biggest problem.
The ultimate issue with Point Break is that it’s at least a half hour too long. If all the fat was trimmed and we were simply left with a lean, mean cut of action movie prime rib, you know, clocking in at around ninety minutes (or a hundred, if you’re RoboCop
Another huge issue is basic story structure and some “show, don’t tell” problems. I guess if you were living under a rock you might not foresee the true nature of Patrick Swayze’s “Bodhi” (SPOILER ALERT: he’s the bad guy), but trying to somehow keep that from both the audience and Johnny Utah seems rather pointless. Basically, “the big reveal” falls totally flat. This is further compounded by the fact that rather than actually showing us Johnny’s process of confirmation, we’re treated to some boring expositional dialogue about how he was tailing Bodhi all over the place and then eventually saw him casing a bank. I would have much rather seen that played out on screen! You know, some good old-fashioned cat-and-mouse action? It would have been nice. Instead, it’s a missed opportunity to make this film legitimately good.
I understand that a big reason why people enjoy this movie so much are the so-bad-it’s-good moments, but the key to an entire movie being so-bad-it’s-good is consistency. Point Break is just too inconsistent across the board to be truly entertaining as a whole.
Now, I don’t want to come across too harsh on this, because there are elements I deeply appreciate, like the bank robbery scenes, the car/foot chase, and the final skydiving scene (especially the fact that “Adios, amigo!” is Swayze all the way), but, as I said, the movie is just too long, too inconsistent, and too disjointed for me to give it an outright recommendation. If you’re watching it at home, you pretty much want to fast forward through anything that isn’t a Gary Busey moment or an action scene (or surfing…or football).
Sometimes you just need a little more something, or a little less nothing.
Rating: ★★½ (out of five)
R.I.P. Swayze
