All the elements found in the new French film “Point Blank” feel like repackaged parts from an ’80s action yarn.

You’ve got your Everyman hero, a kidnapped wife, a killer on the loose and a deluge of dirty cops. The joy of “Point Blank” is in the execution. Who minds recycled plot points when they’re put to such thrilling use?

“Point Blank,” just released on Blu-ray and DVD, doesn’t resuscitate the action genre as much as give it a hearty salute. It’s impossible to watch without imagining it crossing the Atlantic via a homegrown remake. Let’s hope Hollywood is smart enough to copy the original’s crackling pace and attention to the details that count.

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Only a tiresome poseur like Quentin Tarantino could think that the Hollywood pretty boys he cast in his soon-to-be released opus The Inglorious Basterds are convincing movie tough guys. Where is Lee Marvin when we need him?

You’ve probably experienced the Basterds publicity blitz.  Brad Pitt looks like he stepped out of a Calvin Klein underwear ad. Folks I know who have been around him say he really is a pleasant and laid-back guy, and these are hardly the characteristics of a beady-eyed killer.  Creepy Eli Roth, taking some time off from directing his degenerate torture movies, is just a leering clown – he looks like he should be squatting in the back of his Ford panel van offering Tootsie Rolls to passing tweens.  And B.J. Novak?  The guy is a hilarious writer and is really funny in The Office , but I’m not buying this cat as the scourge of the Third Reich.

In contrast, Lee Marvin’s tough guy legacy lives on despite the fact that his body rests with thousands of other heroes in Arlington National Cemetery. He earned that right when he was wounded fighting the Imperial Japanese Army in the Pacific as a Marine private. His Purple Heart is 100% USDA certified proof positive of his prime badassary. Who is the Hollywood tough guy of today who can dare step up to the Lee Marvin plate and take a swing?

Nobody. (more…)