the audience applauded

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

I keep coming back to this movie over and over... For folks my age (middle age?) it is a movie you can watch again and a again. I am a self-confessed John Cusack junkie, but this movie has more for me than just that.Many of us have someone special from our distant past...this movie gives us the idea (or hope) that all is not lost in this regard -- keeping hope alive is a good thing. The interplay between Cusack and Ackroyd is priceless!Where else are you going to catch three Cusacks in one film?This will always be a go to film for me -- whenever I think there's nothing worth watching, I can always watch this again!

'Grosse Pointe Blank' is among the best films from 1997, that's high on entertainment. Its tremendously acted & the writing, for the most part, is charming!'Grosse Pointe Blank' Synopsis: Martin Blank is a professional assassin. He is sent on a mission to a small Detroit suburb, Grosse Pointe, and, by coincidence, his ten-year high school reunion party is taking place there at the same time.'Grosse Pointe Blank' never loses pace, despite a few clichés in its Writing. The narrative is strongly constructed, while the madness between its characters keeps you engrossed. Tom Jankiewicz, D. V. DeVincentis, Steve Pink & John Cusack's Screenplay is wonderful, although its predictable & not free from clichés. George Armitage's Direction is skilled. Cinematography, Editing & Costume Design are perfect. Action-Sequences are commendably executed. Joe Strummer's Soundtrack is peppy.Performance-Wise: John Cusack is in remarkable form, enacting the conflict driven protagonist to perfection. Cusack is an under-rated actor, who's not gotten the recognition, he truly deserves. Minnie Driver is cute, as always. Dan Aykroyd has his moments, while Alan Arkin is top-notch in a brief role. Jeremy Piven is alright. Joan Cusack is first-rate.On the whole, 'Grosse Pointe Blank' is very entertaining!

Professional assassin Cusack acts upon an invitation to attend his 10-year high school reunion in his home town of Grosse Pointe, Michigan where he reconnects with lost love Driver and other old friends, while also being tailed by both an assassin (Urquidez) and two National Security Agency agents (Azaria and Freeman). May have worked in 1997, but (thankfully) cinema has since found ways of creating more likable and plausible anti-heroes than what has been given here. The soundtrack is one of the film's few pluses. One of the few terrible movies that doesn't make you feel outraged by wasting two hours of your life, but it is still a heavily flawed and far-fetched outing nonetheless, despite its appealing but sadly failed concept. This probably looked excellent in script-form, but in life-action, everything seems so paper-thin. The "happy" ending is just insultingly cheap.*½ (out of four)

I'd love to know if John Cusack actually had to audition for the role of Martin Blank or if it was tailor-made for him. Because it certainly seems to have been. GROSSE POINTE BLANK fits his comically dark persona so perfectly and he's incredible in the movie, as a result. It's got a great hook: a hit-man going back to high school for the ten-year reunion. And I love the movie's sense of humor; a professional killer who's in therapy; that no one takes him seriously when he tells them his trade. And the comedy lends an acuteness to the violent scenes, and things can get kinda nasty. The locker fight, especially, is a terrific scene. It's set to the best song on the soundtrack, it's in your face, and comes out of nowhere. I can't think of another actor who could've pulled it off quite like Cusack.And he fronts a great cast: Minnie Driver, Alan Arkin, Jeremy Piven, Joan Cusack and especially Dan Aykroyd, who chews the scenery with manic glee. GROSSE POINT BLANK is one of those great '90s movies that you just don't hear enough about; it's got a rock-solid soundtrack, great dialogue and it's one of the best comedies of the decade. 9/10