Clip/Trailer for 'Point Blank' (À Bout Portant)

Previous clip didn't play well. Maybe for good reason. Nobody does action better than Hollywood. European flicks rarely reach that level (for more than a few seconds, let alone an entire sequence or the whole movie).

I think Fred Cavayé falls short both in the shots and editing. Coarse. Comes off disjointed, even cold, impersonal. Jangly throughline. Blocking, zooming, and panning come off a bit nauseating. I know he's going for the 'you are there' feel but this just undermines the sequence.

Even the script doesn't quite hold up -- when the cops gain instant unquestioned access to the security office, find exactly the right video feed within seconds, and are off to the exact location they need to be without hesitation or asking directions -- that wouldn't fly in a Hollywood script, not for a high-profile movie. (Yes, there's a lot of crap in Hollywood scripts, but not like that. The clunky stuff in our movies tends to be conceptual, or gaps in story logic. Action scenes, though -- are in our DNA. The one thing you can bet will be frame-perfect in a Hollywood movie). Not so with the above sequence from Cavayé. That may not be typical, but you see it a lot in European movies.

Here, though, with this new clip, everything works, and just as you'd expect from a French director. There's instant connection with the characters. Great suspense (a lost art in Hollywood). Gobs of dialogue that goes unspoken (which would be slogged through in an American production, putting the audience into a dialogue-induced coma). Small moments are sharply done, unexpected and unusual but play smooth, even charming, and manage to ramp up tension. (Would be jagged, clunky, and hard to believe, even eye-rolling in a Hollywood version).

Result is a crackling cut. It's fair to call it 'edge of your seat'. Lots of forward motion, yet smooth. But, it's not an action sequence. It's atmospheric, tense, character-driven, and loaded with suspense -- what Euro directors are naturals at. It gets under your skin, makes you care about the people involved (you forget for the moment that they are fictional). And, Hollywood rarely achieves that.

Had already planned to see 'Point Blank', but this clip seals the deal. Now I might even buy it.