Point Break (1991)
Last Watch Date - December 24, 2024
Total Times Watched - At least 10
Comments
Johnny Utah, the Ohio State Buckeyes. Cool name, but a team I love to hate. This movie was one of the first big Keanu action movies to pop up. He had some success with Bill & Ted and some smaller roles before this, but I like to see this as his first "big" movie. Co-starring with Keanu is Patrick Swayze! At nearly 40 years old, he definitely looked weathered and beaten by the sun. Turns out it was a long line of daily cigarettes that was getting him.
I think everyone knows what this movie is at this point. I've heard it referenced by people who have never even seen it. It's a sort of modern classic. Maybe one of the better surfing movies out there. I'm not sure if it's one of the better bank robbery movies. There are tons of good ones going back to the Western cliche. It's not the plot of this movie that makes it what it is, it's the chemistry between people. It feels pretty real in a lot of places. That's driven more by Swayze than Keanu, but he has good chemistry with Lori Petty and Gary Busey too. I guess it'd be best to say this movie is a great sum of its parts and maybe not an individual award type of movie.
The action in this movie is pretty good in parts. The neighborhood chase scene is quite good. The surfing is ok. There's a little football game on the beach that's filmed pretty decently (although Keanu's mechanics are questionable at best). I'm wondering if I'm more nostalgic for this movie than it is good. Considering its cult status and remake, I guess it's probably like that for a lot of people. At the end of the day, it's kind of a goofy crime/cop movie that's also a love story and kind of a buddy movie at the same time.
When reading about the production, I saw that they tried to make this back in 86 with a few different names floated to play Keanu's role. Matthew Broderick must've been riding high on that Ferris Bueller credibility, but in no way can I see him as an action star. Or a surfer. Johnny Depp probably would've worked. Val Kilmer could've as well. I'm not sure Charlie Sheen was old enough to pull it off in 86, he would've only been 21.
Recommended?
Yeah, you can't go wrong with this one. If you've seen it before, you'll enjoy the lines in this. The dialogue is pretty hilarious (unintentionally?).
