The Point Men (2001)

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

The movie is surprisingly subdued in its pacing, its characterizations, and its go-for-broke sensibilities.

Blistering performances.

I was interested in watching this film in part because it was directed by John Glen, who had directed several James Bond movies in the 1980s that I had liked. However, after watching this movie, all I could think was that Glen's status as a director had fallen greatly in the years between James Bond and this film. To be fair, Glen was working with a script that really needed a few more rewrites before filming - the opening is kind of vague, the chief villain character is kind of vague, and various plot details here and there are vague as well. Despite this inadequate script, the movie could still have been fun with some energetic direction. But the movie is slow-moving and the few action sequences really lack zip and punch. Though this may have been in part due to the low budget, which also results in the movie having a somewhat cheap look and feel that resembles low budget Canadian television shows from the 1990s. To date, this is the final movie that Glen has directed. Maybe that's for the best.

John Glen holds the distinction of helming more James Bond movies than any other director. He got his start on the Bonds as an editor and graduated with "For Your Eyes Only" as the director. Each of his 007 epics are classic, polished, and exciting. Glen displayed a knack for action filmmaking. Alas, when audiences turned away in droves for the second Timothy Dalton Bond adventure "License to Kill," the Bond producers cleaned house. Glen's career went into decline because nothing he made thereafter benefited from the force of a dynamic character like James Bond. The former Bond helmer hasn't lost his punch. Indeed, "The Point Men" has all the trappings of a Bond movie since it concerns one of the Mossad's ultra-hush, hush, assassination squads. Essentially, this briskly-paced 90-minute melodrama is a revenge thriller about a killer whittling down the squad one operative at a time. The PLO villain is as ruthless as he is methodical. At one point, he goes under a plastic surgeon's knife to disguise himself. After he has been given a new visage, the villain shoots not only the plastic surgeon but also his nurse. The action was lensed on actual locations in Luxembourg, France, Israel, and New York City, and this enhances the film's authenticity. Lenser Alec Mills' cinematography is solid stuff; he served as Glen's director of photography on "Christopher Columbus: The Discovery," "Iron Eagle: Aces: Iron Eagle 3, "The Living Daylights," and "License to Kill." Actress Maryam d'Abo has a small role as one of the squad. She played the romantic lead in Glen's "The Living Daylights."The opening scene bristles with action, explosions, and death. There is no shortage of melodrama in Ripley Highsmith's adaption of Steven Hartov's novel. Hartov wrote the two "Mercenary" straight-to-video movies. Mind you, Glen still knows how to orchestrate action scenes. "Highlander" star Christopher Lambert plays a sympathetic Mossad assassin who is convinced that his team iced the wrong terrorist. Miraculously, Tony Eckhardt (Lambert) survives an opening shoot-out in broad daylight but his partner (Hendrick Haese of "Contaminated Man") dies. No sooner has Rainer shot Amar Kamil than two unknown guys with small arms show up and blaze away at them. Maddy Hope (Kerry Fox of "Shallow Grave") pulls up in her car as the wounded Tony staggers away from the shooting. Maddy and he wind up participating in a careening car chase that ends disastrously with a fireball explosion wherein two men are barbecued. Tony winds up in Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem. He asserts that the man they killed was not the notorious Palestinian terrorist. Naturally, nobody believes Tony. Eventually, our hero leaves the hospital with his left arm in a sling and an automatic pistol tucked behind his back. Tony explains that the man they shot had a look of surprise in his eyes. Consequently, Tony and his 'foreign legion' of comrades are disbanded and reassigned. Nevertheless, the Middle-East villains aren't content to let old ills lay quietly. Tony is forced to take a desk job while one of his buddies goes back to college in New York City. Harry Webber (William Armstrong of "The Dark Knight") is the first member of the team to bite the dust. The killer stages the killing as if it were collateral damage during a convenience store robbery. The next man in their team, Peter Hauser (Nicolas de Pruyssenaere of "Black Book") dies next, in an explosion after his automobile is smashed and pushed off a mountain. Tony accuses Israel Intelligence of killing their former comrades because they still don't believe. Unfortunately, our hero cannot convince his superiors and some of his friends until it is too late. Eventually, Tony learns that the villain is motivated because his hit squad killed his two brothers and his wife. The villain plans to kill a PLO leader seeking peace, even though he is his half-brother.Glen directs with a sure hand. "The Point Men" is better than average with a villain who struggled against the irony in his predicament. Not bad, but not great.

Some time after their botched operation to capture a known Palestinian terrorist named Amar Kamil (Vincent Regan) , a secret team suffers events go awry . After getting away an assassination's attempt in Luxembourg , a bunch of Israeli agents starts to get killed off one by one . Their leader (Christopher Lambert) must get to the bottom of things before the murderous plan to be completed as he takes one to kill one .European co-production by UK|France|Luxembourg that contains action , intrigue , thrills , suspense ; however resulting to be some tiring and dull . It's a direct to video film made in low budget and failed at box-office . Based on the novel titled "The Heat of Ramadan" by Steven Hartov and screenplay by Ripley Highsmith , the film develops an intrigue about secret agents from Mossad and OLP . Regular performances from two main protagonists Christopher Lambert and his nemesis Vincent Regan . The best acting turns out Kerry Fox , a notorious British actress who has not achieved a great success. There appears in a pretty secondary role Maryam d'Abo who formerly was Bond-girl for John Glen in 'The Living daylights' . Functional cinematography by Alec Mills shot in Luxembourg , Israel and beach scenes in Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France . Atmospheric musical score by Waltzing , including Arab and Israel sounds .The film was produced by the Jewish Avi Nesher , being professionally made by John Glenn . John keeps this moving, though with no much originality and with some flaws and gaps . He has directed the most number of James Bond movies , totaling five . Glenn filmed various 007 outings , previously directed 2nd unit and edition on some early Bond movies . He directed several entries such as ¨Licence to kill¨, ¨A view to kill¨ , ¨For your eyes only¨ and ¨Octopussy¨ that are incredibly fast pace . The film will appeal to Christopher Lambert enthusiasts , but good for fans only . Rating : Mediocre .

Usually I despise these direct to video action films, but something about The Point Men struck me, and I walked away with a smile on my face. This film is much better then some recent major studio movies that dealt with terrorism; I am of course talking about the disappointing Collateral Damage and the god-awful Bad Company. The film doesn't really go for too much style, instead the action scenes are raw and bloody. I've always enjoyed Christopher Lambert, he's not a great actor but he gives it his all; like he does here. Nothing to seek out, but if you are looking for a good way to kill an evening, Point Men is a lot better then most are giving it credit for.