À bout portant 2010

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: If the storyline doesn't amount to much more than B-movie leftovers, there isn't an ounce of fat on them. Read more

Stephen Holden, New York Times: An exhilarating adrenaline rush with breakneck momentum so shrewdly calculated that you could imagine its French director, Fred Cavaye, standing by with a heart-rate monitor. Read more

Eric Hynes, Time Out: A nonstop movie that's nonetheless more captivatingly caffeinated than compelling... Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: [A] preposterously exciting-and pleasingly preposterous-French-language thriller... Read more

James Rocchi, MSN Movies: You're going to have to track "Point Blank" down, but if you're looking for a real slice of what the thriller cinema perpetually promises and so rarely delivers -- pure force from up close -- it's one of the standout secrets of the year. Read more

Sam Adams, AV Club: Point Blank doesn't have much on its mind beyond plot mechanics, although that isn't so much a criticism as a heads-up. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: A swirl of action and information punctuated by chase scene after glorious chase scene. Read more

Andrea Gronvall, Chicago Reader: [A] finely calibrated French neonoir. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: Frantic, violent and unrelenting, it is all of a piece, its tightly packed storytelling making cassoulet of its own implausibilities and familiar terrain covering a web of political and institutional conspiracy. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: Read more

Kirk Honeycutt, Hollywood Reporter: It wants only to thrill -- and so it does. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: "Point Blank" will leave you breathless. Unfolding at a blistering clip from its slam-bang opening through its bravura close, it grips you at frame one and doesn't let go. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: See it now - before they start rewriting it to make room for bedpan jokes, exploding 18-wheelers and Shia LaBeouf. Read more

Bob Mondello, NPR.org: Director Fred Cavaye has a reputation in France for getting the audience's pulse pounding, and in Point Blank, he does that while mixing in some intriguing social themes and character types that are usually outsiders to the genre. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: The twists and turns involve a high-level assassination, corrupt cops, squint-inducing violence and plenty of fearlessness. Read more

V.A. Musetto, New York Post: "Point Blank" starts with a pulse-quickening chase down flights of stairs and across Parisian rooftops, and continues with blistering action that doesn't let up until the closing credits. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: Point Blank is so ridiculously successful at keeping its momentum going - and keeping the audience tense with suspense - that it's likely to leave you with your heart pounding, gasping for breath. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: This is the kind of movie where you get involved first and ask questions later. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: All right, this is how to make a thriller: Start with a situation of astonishing difficulty and emotional weight. Then multiply. And keep piling on. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: The acting is impeccable from top to bottom, and the relentless pace keeps us from fretting about niggling defects. Read more

Calvin Wilson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Put aside any hang-ups you may have about subtitles. As action flicks go, "Point Blank" is right on target. Read more

David Jenkins, Time Out: Brisk and unpretentious, with no hint that we're meant to take anything more away from this than a cheap but effective thrill. Read more

Jordan Mintzer, Variety: Pic speeds by in 80 minutes (sans end credits) of nonstop gunplay, pileups (of people, not cars) and occasionally exhilarating location work throughout Paris' streets and subways. Read more

J. Hoberman, Village Voice: A wildly improbable adrenaline-pumper, replete with fierce shoot-outs, mad metro chases, and one very tough delivery. Read more

John DeFore, Washington Post: "Point Blank" keeps the adrenaline flowing well past the point at which viewers stop hoping for twists they can't predict. Read more