Here on the A.T.B. blog, regular readers (of which, at the time of writing this post, there are zero) will know that I have a particular affinity towards dumb action films from the 80’s and 90’s. Well, today we get to go to one of the more particularly enjoyable films of the genre… 1991’s POINT BREAK! The Keanu Reeves/Patrick Swayze joint is without a doubt one of the best examples of “dumb fun action” that I can come up with, and man-oh-man can I use some of that right now.
I have seen this one before, but only once. I loved it at the time, but it probably deserved a rewatch that it never got. Kathryn Bigelow directed this one, and as such showed the world that women could direct dumb action just as well as the men; this, along with most of the other movies in her filmography, are great examples of knowing your audience and building a movie that people will want to see. I am expecting to love this one as much as I did when watching it several years ago, but I’ll get back to you with more specifics after if finish it. Here is the (clearly early 90’s) trailer.
I think I need to compartmentalize my opinions on this movie a bit. First off, on a pure qualitative view, this movie isn’t very good by modern standards. The acting is poor, the visuals aren’t THAT great, and the logic is a bit hackneyed. ON THE OTHER HAND, the acting is bad in a way that only 90’s movie can make work, the visuals work really well in that “campy 90’s” type of way, and like 90’s movies, the logic is really just there to drive the next action set piece. So, while I think this movie isn’t “great”, it IS a great 90’s movie.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s get into this a bit. First, lets talk acting. Keanu Reeves plays “Johnny Utah” (great 90’s action movie name btw), former Big Ten collegiate quarterback superstar turned FBI agent (great 90’s backstory), and a crack shot (another 90’s action staple). When his seasoned FBI agent partner (played by a Gary Busey who was only about 20% of the crazy of 2020 Busey), he determines that a slew of bank robbers is actually a gang of adrenaline junkie surfers. He meets up with a grunge-esque woman so he can learn to surf and go undercover.
Patrick Swayze plays Bodie, surfer/adrenaline junkie/bank robber, although we don’t find that out for sure until about half-way through the movie. He befriends Johnny Utah, bringing him into the adrenaline seeking gang for the summer. Bodie is the quintessential 90’s icon, looking for any adrenaline high he can muster and has the dynamic personality to draw others into his glow. Throughout the course of the movie, he ends up devolving (unintentionally, but still) into a murderous villain, the anti-thesis of his overall personality that he has crafted for himself. Honestly, Bodie is probably the most dynamic character in this movie, and it is only helped by Patrick Swayze playing him.
The rest of the cast is fine, if not a bit stereotypical. Gary Busey plays FBI agent, John McGinley plays angry captain / Dr. Cox from Scrubs but in a police station, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers play heroin dealers. It’s not Scorcese, but it works. Their job is to force the 2 leads together, and it does it pretty well.
Now, I don’t want to get too deep into the plot here, because I do think you should see this one, but I want to run down all the stuff that are pretty ridiculous, because they are a major reason as to why this movie is so well loved. First, I know this movie is about surfers, and it takes place in LA, but… there is probably a like, 20% too much surfing. For adrenaline junkes, I would’ve liked to see a bit more variety. But there are plenty of surfing scenes in here that go over really well still, and I imagine this played really well in 1991. Next, the skydiving… the scene where they do legitimate skydiving was really well done. That scene alone makes me want to jump out of an airplane. The NEXT skydiving scene, where Reeves jumps out of the plane without a chute is just ridiculous, but it is a fun scene if you look past all the blatant logical issues. (Also, is there really only one chute in a chute bag? When did secondary chutes become a thing?)
In the most 90’s way, this movie ends with Bodie going off to essentially kill himself by surfing an unsafe wave, while Keanu Reeves tosses his FBI badge in the surf. Again… very 90s. However, this movie came out in 1991, so I don’t even think I can hold the tropes against them, can I? Is it a stereotype if the movie literally did it so well that everyone copied their bit?
This post got a bit off-track at the end, but you get my point. This movie is great if you watch it knowing it is a 90’s gem, but don’t expect it to hold up to the better movies of the past few years. I would recommend this to everyone, but only if they know that fact going in.
Also… Honest Trailers did a video on this movie, and its pretty good. Also, they remade this movie a few years ago, but i recommend the Honest Trailer as opposed to the remake. Here is the video.
Ain't That Bad - Movie Blog 