Point Break
The best action movies are generally widely thought of as being total adrenaline (and testosterone) fueled thrill rides, where the head long rush of excitement is what really matters the most over good writing, story, and character development (even as the films that also includes those things almost always rises to the top of the genre), but a film that doesnât necessarily deconstruct the fundamental elements of action cinema but certainly acknowledges them openly in the screenplay as being things that the CHARACTERS live by while changing up certain other things to give itself a unique vibe is certainly something that can turn oneâs head from the usually mindless shoot em up dregs that get shat out year after year from Hollywood. Thatâs exactly what we got in 1991 from the then fledgling, future Oscar winning director Kathryn Bigelow (who no doubt learned many tricks of the trade from then husband James Cameron, who produced this film as well). Featuring a top name 80s star who was just about to see his own career decline in Patrick Swayze and another star who was just poised at that point to shoot straight into the stratosphere in Keanu Reeves, this so called ânew approachâ taken by Bigelow saw just for starters a master villain who was anything BUT ruthless in Swayzeâs Bodhi, the spiritual and mystical leader of a gang of surfers who as part of their âliving life to the fullestâ credo, regularly don rubber masks in the likenesses of the Ex Presidents (Reagan, Carter, Nixon, and LBJ) and go around robbing banks in order to bankroll their carefree lifestyle which consists of living at the beach and just doing whatever the hell they feel like doing. While they definitely keep themselves busy (robbing 30 banks in 3 years with dead on efficiency), the fact that they do so while disguised as former Chief Executives lends an irony in and of itself to the potent purity of their intentions, as Swayze considers what he does to not so much be for the money (more or less a necessary evil in every living personâs life), but to be a complete strike back against âthe systemâ that destroys and enslaves peopleâs hearts, minds and souls, an ethos that might make many roll their eyes, but coming from the mouth of Swayze sounds completely genuine and understandable, as while his Bodhi might seem like a Zen Buddist type philosopher, in reality these guysâ true religion is in surfing itself, and perhaps no movie before or since has more accurately captured the allure of riding the waves better than this one (or at least one that had this compelling of a story). Add that in with the fact that Swayzeâs character openly states a hatred for actual violence and killing while weâre told that he and his gang have never once ever had to actually fire a shot during one of their robberies due to (in Swayzeâs words) always being able to project such an image of strength while performing a hold up that theyâve never had a reason to and you have one of the most fascinating non evil bad guys in the history of cinema, one so compelling that even having more screen time devoted to the development of his character would have been most welcome. Enter Reeves in the improbably named role of Johnny Utah, said to be a former top college quarterback who missed his chance at the pros due to a devastating knee injury and has since joined the FBI as a rookie field agent and is partnered with an irascible veteran agent played by Gary Busey. It is Busey that has come up with the theory (that no one else will listen to) that The Ex Presidents are indeed a gang of surfers, and to prove that point, convinces Reeves to go undercover on the beaches and get in amongst the entire culture in order to see just what he can find out, but first he must actually learn to surf, so to that end he hooks up with a female surfer (Lori Petty, whom despite having the basic look about her of being a strung out looking lesbian chick, actually managed to have a pretty hot run for herself as an actress in the early 90s even though her actual acting style always made her characters seem annoyingly cloying and irritating, as she is here) to teach him the ins and outs before conveniently learning that she is also Swayzeâs ex girlfriend as well, using that to gain access to his inner circle and more importantly, falling heavily under Swayzeâs spell all while pursuing a false lead on another gang of surfers who turn out to be innocent of the bank robberies (but are guilty of drug dealing). It is here that the dynamics of the story become extremely interesting, as Busey actually starts to question if his partner is remaining loyal to his job and sworn duty or if instead he is falling under the hedonistic sway of a guy who is quickly starting to be looked at as being a prime suspect. Indeed, even Reevesâ initial bullshit cover story of wanting to walk away from conventional life to surf the waves without a care in the world starts to become a reality for him as Swayzeâs philosophy continues to permeate itself into his head and even his subconscious all while he carries on a relationship with Petty (for which his feelings are genuine and not just part of his job) and becomes addicted to the freedom and basic control of your own fate that surfing seems to provide, especially with a number of spontaneous instances where the group sees some heavy waves over the ocean (even late at night) and run on out with their boards in order to take advantage of the breaks. But the twist ala crème comes just about a little past the halfway mark, when Reeves and Busey literally stumble across another robbery by The Ex Presidents, and in doing so Reeves engages in a prolonged foot chase with their leader, Ronald Reagan (Swayze), which results in his cover being completely and utterly blown as a result. The kicker is that while the gang debates the merits of either killing Reeves or just straight up making a run for it, Swayze hypnotically comes up with a more radical idea, as he sees Reevesâ status in law enforcement as being something that âenslavesâ him, and proposes to bring him even further into the group in order to âset him freeâ once and for all, which leads to him having Reeves accompany them on a skydiving expedition (where Keanuâs parachute actually opens, much to his surprise), and then forcing him to come along on one last robbery (with another henchman holding Petty hostage in case he gets any funny ideas), which explodes into the all out mayhem of the filmâs final act. While Keanu is clearly the lead actor here, it is still the top billed Swayzeâs show through and through, bringing a wild eyed intensity to the role of a guy who is not necessarily psychotic but instead has sadly come to believe WAY too much in his own bullshit (noble as it may seem), which leads to him making several key (yet understandable) mistakes in the later portions of the film, all while being good hearted enough to not want to kill others but also being realistic enough to use accomplices whom he knows DO have it in them to do his dirty work, even as the final scenes make it clear that while Reeves accepts the fact that he has to bring Swayze down, the fact that all of the Zen type âsurfing as a form of godhoodâ jingoism HAS in fact weaved its ways into Keanuâs soul and thus represents a kind of tragic final victory for Swayze, even as we wonder why a more appealing and attractive actress other than Petty was not cast in the prime female role and while we also savor every last bit of Buseyâs own unconventional performance as a 20+ year FBI guy who is STILL seen as being pretty much a total fuckup in his own right by his superiors (including John C. McGinley in uber asshole mode). However, the exploration of thrillseeking as a form of liberation for oneâs soul and in doing so breaking the chains that society puts on us is the primary message here, as simplistic as it might seem to some and as inspiring as it does to others, many of whom have kept the filmâs popularity alive and well for generations to come along with putting a couple of golden notches in the belts of two legendary movie stars, one of whom was tragically taken from us far too soon even as he created a performance here whose innate purity resulted from both its uniqueness and also from its willingness to go against the grain in a genre where these character types would normally revel in their own vicious evildoing without ever wanting to save anybody but themselvesâŚ
9/10