Wednesday, September 23, 2009

For part three, it’s a two-fer

Cadet Captain David Shawn, played by a young Tom Cruise

The good: he’s stalwart, brave, and dedicated.
The bad: and arguably a home-grown terrorist, or at least a nut with too much glory in his eyes and too much firepower in his hands.
The ugly: he taught me that American movies actually CAN end on a sad note.
Best line: “It's beautiful, man! Beautiful!” – said while firing an M-60 at American National Guard troops.

As previously mentioned, I grew up in a very secluded environment that didn’t often include movies or interacting with others outside of school (where they taught us to communicate by shouting “Shut up!”) and I thought all movies were required by federal law to end on a happy note after all the injustices had been neatly resolved. Upon exiting the theatre, my basic review of the movie was “Can they do that?” It also taught me something about women. The girls at school hated the character and his actions, but when I jokingly offered to buy one a poster of him for her bedroom she immediately jumped at the prospect. “He may be an unbalanced, war-glorying psychopath, but if you look deep inside you’ll see that he’s really hot.”

Which brings us to this guy:

Martin Blank, played by John Cusack

The good: he’s a trained killer able to justify murder for profit (“If I show up on your doorstep, chances are you did something to bring me there.”).
The bad: maybe that was supposed to be the bad thing. I honestly don’t know.
The ugly: he deserted his date on prom night.
Best line: “Hi, I'm Martin Blank, you remember me? I'm not married, I don't have any kids, and I'd blow your head off if someone paid me enough.”

In addition to being a member of the same generation and listening to some of the same music (although he leaned more towards alternative than metal – pussy), we both had similar backgrounds and ideals. Unfortunately, the army does not really find and encourage people with the moral flexibility needed to become assassins, unless in true government form they totally overlooked me and tried to recruit a Red Cross volunteer. Still, Blank is cool. I want to grow up to be him.

11 comments:

Monogram Queen said...

Love me some John Cusack and he can do no wrong as far as movie roles go. Remember when the Peanut Queen stalked him down in FL near her house? Tres' cool!

Avitable said...

"I want to grow up to be him."

Me too.

Robin said...

i think John Cusack is the only man on the planet that every man wants to be and every woman just plain wants.

Jay said...

Martin Blank is very cool. I bet he has no problem getting Bunnies. ;-)

Captain Dumbass said...

Grosse Point Blank is one of my favourite movies. Haven't seen the other one.

metalmom said...

Psychopaths kill for no reason. I kill for "money". It's a "job".

Love.that.movie!
and the soundtrack kicks ass. I have it on my ipod.

Unknown said...

Never seen these films. Obviously because I didn't grow up in an isolated village right?

Hit 40 said...

Again ....

I am dense!! I think you gave both movies thumbs up?? Martin Blank sounds like he might give Dexter a run for his money. Dexter never even gets paid for his outstanding slicing and dicing. Martin seems a a little brighter.

Grant said...

Monogram Queen - maybe I could lure PQ to my home if I tell her I have John Cusack tied up in the closet.

Avitable - me too too.

Robin - I thought that was Brad Pitt.

Jay - even though he is a fictional character, he's probably cutting into my action.

Captain Dumbass - it's good, but some people find it a bit unrealistic. I think it was made well enough that I didn't question the premise.

metalmom - I think of it as one of the defining movies of my generation.

SJ - this is America, land of movies. If you live in a rural area, the government sends helicopters to hover over your home and project them into your living room.

Hit 40 - yes, I give both a thumbs up, although Grosse Point Blank is much more fun.

April said...

I don't care how weird and Scientology crazy Tom Cruise gets, I'm always always always going to think he's HOT. See: Risky Business. The first movie to ever make me feel horny.

I also like Grosse Point Blank. I thought it was a great movie with a good plot.

Good choices, Grant!

Grant said...

April - TAPS shows Tom Cruise's butt, so you'll want to rent that for masturbation material. Or get NetFlix so you can watch it online anytime.