Point Break

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Point Break

Theatrical poster
Directed by Kathryn Bigelow
Produced by James Cameron
Peter Abrams
Robert L. Levy
Written by W. Peter Iliff
Starring Patrick Swayze
Keanu Reeves
Gary Busey
Lori Petty
John C. McGinley
James LeGros
Cinematography Donald Peterman
Editing by Howard L. Smith
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release date(s) July 12, 1991
Running time 123 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $24,000,000 (estimated)
Gross revenue $83,531,958 (Worldwide)[1]

Point Break is a 1991 action film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and starring Keanu Reeves, Patrick Swayze and Gary Busey. The title refers to the surfing term "point break".[2]

The film was a box office success upon its release, and it has since gathered a cult following. The film also contains a cameo by Red Hot Chili Peppers front man Anthony Kiedis.

Contents

[edit] Plot summary

Johnny Utah (Keanu Reeves), is a rookie FBI agent and former Ohio State quarterback who, with his partner Angelo Pappas (Gary Busey), is investigating a string of bank robberies. Suspecting a connection between the bank robbers—known as the Ex-Presidents because they use masks of former US presidents—and local surfers, Utah goes undercover to infiltrate the surfing community. Knowing little of the lifestyle, Utah convinces surfer Tyler (Lori Petty) to mentor him.

In the process, Utah develops a complex relationship with Bodhi (Patrick Swayze), the charismatic leader of a gang of surfers, Roach (James LeGros), Grommet (Bojesse Christopher), and Nathaniel (John Philbin), who accept Utah into their midst. As he masters the art of surfing, Utah finds himself increasingly attracted to the gang's adrenaline-charged lifestyle and Tyler's philosophies.

Following a lead generated by analyzing toxins found in the hair of one of the bank robbers, Utah and Pappas lead a raid on another gang of surfers. While criminals, the surfers aren't the Ex-Presidents and the raid inadvertently ruins another undercover operation. Utah then suspects Bodhi is the ringleader of the Ex-Presidents and begins to tail him. Utah's suspicions are confirmed when he sees Bodhi and Roach casing a bank. This creates an internal struggle for Utah, as his fondness for Bodhi and the lifestyle he epitomizes conflicts with his duty and responsibility as an FBI agent.

Utah and Pappas set up a stakeout at the bank and the Ex-Presidents appear. In the ensuing chase, Utah is forced to choose between shooting Bodhi and letting him escape. Unwilling to shoot his friend, he fires into the air.

Bodhi, knowing Utah is an undercover agent, aggressively recruits him into participating in a skydiving adventure, and Utah, still not having any hard proof that Bodhi is a bank robber, goes along. After the jump, Bodhi reveals that he has kidnapped Tyler and forces Utah to participate in a last bank robbery. The robbery goes wrong and Grommet and an off-duty cop are killed; Utah is left at the scene. Pappas takes him to the airport where Bodhi is about to take off and there is another shoot out where Pappas and Nathaniel are killed. Roach is badly wounded

Bodhi, Roach and Utah take off in the plane and, after another struggle, Bodhi escapes, releasing Tyler as he leaves. Roach dies from the bloodloss of his wounds. Utah eventually catches up with him in Australia, where a record storm is producing huge but lethal waves. Utah captures Bodhi, but then lets him go so that he can ride the giant wave that will result in his death.

[edit] Cast

In the scene where Johnny helps rob one of the banks, one of the hostages is played by ESPN anchor Linda Cohn.

[edit] Production

Originally, Matthew Broderick and Charlie Sheen were to star in Point Break with Ridley Scott directing.[3] After acquiring the screenplay, the producers of Point Break began looking for a director. At the time, executive producer James Cameron was married to director Kathryn Bigelow who had just completed Blue Steel and was looking for her next project.[3]

Point Break was originally called Johnny Utah when Keanu Reeves was cast in the title role.[3] The studio felt that this title said very little about surfing and by the time Patrick Swayze was cast, the film had been renamed Riders on the Storm after the song by The Doors. However, Jim Morrison's lyrics had nothing to do with the film and so that title was also rejected. It was not until halfway through filming that Point Break became the film's title because of its relevance to surfing.[3]

Reeves liked the name of his character as it reminded him of star athletes like Johnny Unitas and Joe Montana.[4] He described his character as a "total control freak and the ocean beats him up and challenges him. After a while everything becomes a game... He becomes as amoral as any criminal. He loses the difference between right and wrong".[3] Swayze felt that Bodhi was a lot like him and that they both shared "that wild-man edge".[3]

Two months before filming, Lori Petty, Reeves and Swayze trained with former world class professional surfer Dennis Jarvis on the Hawaiian island of Kauai.[3] Jarvis remembers, "Patrick said he'd been on a board a couple of times, Keanu definitely hadn't surfed before, and Lori had never been in the ocean in her life".[5] Shooting the surfing sequences proved to be challenging for both actors with Swayze cracking four of his ribs. For many of the surfing scenes he refused to use a stunt double as he never had one for fight scenes or car chases. He also did the skydiving scenes himself and the film's aerial jump instructor Jim Wallace found that the actor was a natural and took to it right away.[3] The actor ended up making 55 jumps for the film.[6] Swayze actually based aspects of his character after one of his stunt doubles, Darrick Doerner, a top big wave surfer.[7]

[edit] Reception

Point Break was released on July 12, 1991 in 1,615 theaters, grossing $8.5 million on its opening weekend. With a budget of $24 million, the film went on to make $43.2 million in North America and $40.3 million internationally for a worldwide total of $83.5 million.[1]

The film received positive to mixed reviews from critics. Roger Ebert gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four and wrote "Bigelow is an interesting director for this material. She is interested in the ways her characters live dangerously for philosophical reasons. They aren't men of action, but men of thought who choose action as a way of expressing their beliefs".[8] In her review for The New York Times, Janet Maslin praised Reeves' performance: "A lot of the snap comes, surprisingly, from Mr. Reeves, who displays considerable discipline and range. He moves easily between the buttoned-down demeanor that suits a police procedural story and the loose-jointed manner of his comic roles".[9] Entertainment Weekly gave the film a "C+" rating and Owen Gleiberman wrote "Point Break makes those of us who don't spend our lives searching for the ultimate physical rush feel like second-class citizens. The film turns reckless athletic valor into a new form of aristocracy".[10] In his review for the Washington Post, Hal Hinson wrote "A lot of what Bigelow puts up on the screen bypasses the brain altogether, plugging directly into our viscera, our gut. The surfing scenes in particular are majestically powerful, even awe-inspiring. Bigelow's picture is a feast for the eyes, but we watch movies with more than our eyes. She seduces us, then asks us to be bimbos".[11] Rolling Stone magazine's Peter Travers wrote "Bigelow can't keep the film from drowning in a sea of surf-speak. But without her, Point Break would be no more than an excuse to ogle pretty boys in wet suits".[12] USA Today gave the film two out of four stars and Mike Clark wrote "Its purely visceral material (surf sounds, skydiving stunt work, a tough indoor shootout midway through) are first-rate. As for the tangibles that matter even more (script, acting, directorial control, credible relationships between characters), Break defies belief. Dramatically, it rivals the lowest surf yet this year".[13] Time magazine's Richard Corliss wrote "So how do you rate a stunningly made film whose plot buys so blithely into macho mysticism that it threatens to turn into an endless bummer? Looks 10, Brains 3".[14]

At the 1992 MTV Movie Awards, Point Break was nominated for three awards including "Most Desirable Male" (Keanu Reeves), "Most Desirable Male" (Patrick Swayze), and "Best Action Sequence" for the second jump from the plane. In it, Agent Utah jumps out of a plane without a parachute to catch Bohdi and rescue Tyler. Utah catches up with Bodhi and holds a gun to his head. However, Bodhi refuses to pull the rip cord and Utah must decide between dropping his gun (so he can hold on and pull the rip cord) or letting the two fall to the ground.

In 2006, a special edition of Point Break was released on DVD. Entertainment Weekly gave it a "B" rating and wrote "The making-of docs (at their best discussing Swayze's extracurricular skydiving — that really is him doing the Adios, amigo fall) will leave you hanging".[15]

[edit] Legacy

The film has inspired a piece of cult theater, Point Break Live!, in which the role of Johnny Utah is played by an audience member chosen by popular acclamation after a brief audition. The new "Keanu" reads all of his (or her) lines from cue-cards for the duration of the show, "to capture the rawness of a Keanu Reeves performance even from those who generally think themselves incapable of acting".[16]

Point Break was listed in the VH1 series I Love the 90s on the episode 1991. Many celebrities, including Dominic Monaghan, Maroon 5, Mo Rocca, Michael Ian Black, Hal Sparks & Jackass's Chris Pontius, commented about the movie and why it deserved to be included in the episode. As Hal Sparks says "We never saw Bodhi die... I smell a sequel, Point Break 2 – Paddling Out". The use of the term "Paddling Out" drew suspicions that a possible sequel could involve Bodhi "Paddling Out" to New Zealand (as reinforced by his quote in the film).

The scene in which Utah jumps after Bodhi without a parachute was ranked seventh in Empire magazine's Top 10 Crazy Action Sequences. The scene was also tested by the Discovery Channel series Mythbusters. It was determined that Utah and Bodhi would not have been able to free-fall for 90 seconds (as illustrated in the movie), nor would they have been able to hold a conversation in mid-air. However, it was determined that, by streamlining his body, Utah could have conceivably caught up with Bodhi after jumping from the plane.[17] Entertainment Weekly ranked Point Break as having one of the "10 Best Surfing Scenes" in cinema.[18]

[edit] Inspiration from Point Break

[edit] Soundtrack

[edit] Score Album

On February 7, 2008 a score release for Point Break was released by La-La Land Records, featuring composer Mark Isham's score. This edition was limited to 2,000 units, and features 65-minutes of score, with liner notes by Dan Goldwasser that incorporates comments from both Bigelow and Isham.[19]

[edit] Sequel

A sequel has been planned for a 2009 release date. Early plot details are that the film will center around Bodhi and his new apprentice, and will be shot mostly on location in Singapore. The film is to be named Point Break Indo, and is to be directed by Jan de Bont. When Billy Dalton, military special ops and star surfer, is disqualified from the pro-surfing tour, he takes off for the coast of Bali looking for the perfect wave. While there he’s recruited by a private security force who are trying to find a gang known as The Bush Administration, surfing outlaws and modern day pirates who work like “The Ex-Presidents,” a bank robbing crew from Malibu twenty years ago.[20]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b "Point Break (1991)". Box Office Mojo. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=pointbreak.htm. Retrieved on 2008-05-24. 
  2. ^ Point break definition by Babylon's free Dictionary
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h "Point Break DVD Liner Notes". Point Break: Pure Adrenaline Edition (20th Century Fox). 2006. 
  4. ^ Strauss, Bob (July 12, 1991). "I'd like to do a lot of different things". Globe and Mail. 
  5. ^ "Board Certified". Entertainment Weekly. July 26, 1991. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,314913,00.html. Retrieved on 2009-04-24. 
  6. ^ Thomas, Karen (July 12, 1991). "Swayze's latest step". USA Today. 
  7. ^ Willistein, Paul (July 17, 1991). "Swayze enjoys bad-guy role in Point Break". Toronto Star. 
  8. ^ Ebert, Roger (July 12, 1991). "Point Break". Chicago Sun-Times. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19910712/REVIEWS/107120303/1023. Retrieved on 2009-04-24. 
  9. ^ Maslin, Janet (July 12, 1991). "Surf's Up For F.B.I. In Bigelow's Point Break". The New York Times. http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?_r=2&res=9D0CE3D9143EF931A25754C0A967958260&partner=Rotten%20Tomatoes. Retrieved on 2009-04-24. 
  10. ^ Gleiberman, Owen (July 26, 1991). "Point Break". Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,314916,00.html. Retrieved on 2009-04-24. 
  11. ^ Hinson, Hal (July 12, 1991). "Point Break". Washington Post]. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/pointbreakrhinson_a13f81.htm. Retrieved on 2009-04-24. 
  12. ^ Travers, Peter (April 11, 2001). "Point Break". Washington Post]. http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/movie/5947465/review/5947466/point_break. Retrieved on 2009-04-24. 
  13. ^ Clark, Mike (July 12, 1991). "Point Break is a dramatic wipeout". USA Today]. 
  14. ^ Corliss, Richard (July 22, 1991). "Cinema". Time]. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,973430,00.html. Retrieved on 2009-04-24. 
  15. ^ Bierly, Mandi (September 29, 2006). "DVD Review: Point Break". Entertainment Weekly]. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1540537,00.html. Retrieved on 2009-04-24. 
  16. ^ "Point Break LIVE!". May 12, 2009. http://www.cellspace.org/new/node/125. Retrieved on 2009-05-16. 
  17. ^ See MythBusters (2007 season)#Point_Break_Trilogy
  18. ^ "10 Best Surfing Scenes". Entertainment Weekly]. August 8, 2002. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,231017__334753_9,00.html. Retrieved on 2009-04-24. 
  19. ^ LA LA LAND RECORDS, Point Break
  20. ^ Robert Sanchez (2008), First Look: Point Break Sequel Story Details, http://www.iesb.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4865&Itemid=99, retrieved on 2008-06-22 

[edit] External links

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