There's a pivotal scene in "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" where Brock Rumlow (Frank Grillo), aka Crossbones, squares off against Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), aka Falcon. One is fighting for good and the other not so much, and in the end, one jumps out of the building while the other is crushed underneath it.
There will be no collapsing buildings or superhero nicknames, but plenty of action, in this summer's "Point Blank", which is hitting Netflix streaming devices on July 12. Joe Lynch's film, based off Fred Cavaye's French film, "A bout portant", reunites Grillo and Mackie. This time, the two action stars are on the same side, but that doesn't mean they aren't bending the law and the rules.
According to the screenwriter, Adam G. Simon, who also stars in the film, this will be the film that "definitively put the Frank Grillo-Anthony Mackie duo on the map." Simon, a veteran of the Hollywood trade who knows how to take a known product and re-imagine it, has taken Cavaye's film and tossed some summer sizzle into the pan.
Grillo is playing a career criminal who "has slowly worked his way up the food chain of crime," performing a number of jobs for local crime syndicates such as gun-buying, drug-pushing, and any basic violent handy work. He works with his brother (Christian Cooke), and they run into some trouble, which puts them in the path of a nurse (Mackie). What follows, according to Simon, is a "Murtaugh and Riggs type adventure" between Grillo and Mackie's character. In other words, bonkers action that only lethal practitioners of authentic action like the two stars can pull off.
There's a car wash fight, nurses doing hero work, and hospital gown battles. This is the kind of entertainment that War Party Productions wants to produce, and Netflix has been their wingman throughout the process. It started with "Wheelman", continued with "Fightworld", and now hits a level similar to the Jeremy Rush-directed driver film with "Point Blank". Lynch has taken the material and place a coat of sleek thrill on top, promising fans something extra cool during the hottest month of the year.
Simon did note that there is a serious undertone to the wild action that will ground the film. Part of what made "Wheelman" such a delight and made it resonate at the same time was the way Rush intercepted the pedal-to-the-medal accelerating plot with the father-daughter story with Grillo's character. I mention "Wheelman" so much because the more I hear about the way "Point Blank" was made and how it's unique and different, it reminds of the 2017 film.
If Simon had his way, Grillo and Mackie would do ten more films together. They have that kind of on-screen chemistry. A rivalry-type buddy atmosphere that isn't easy to pull off. Changing speeds from action into serious drama and splicing in humor is the work of a pro, and it looks like Lynch, Simon, and the cast have pulled it off.
The esteemed Marcia Gay Harden, Teyonah Parris, Boris McGiver, and Markice Moore fill out the rest of the main cast. In exactly one month, "Point Blank" arrives to the world on Netflix. You don't have to go online and wait in presale purgatory or leave the house. Just sear a steak, open a bottle of scotch, and find a couch to sink into-because these creators aren't messing around.
Consider this summer the official launch of the Grillo-Mackie revolution. What started out as a fight in an Avengers movie many years ago is about to get a lot more personal ... and fun.
