A rash of quick, organized bank jobs in California leads a rookie Fed (named Johnny Utah!) to the beaches as an undercover surfer to ferret out the curl-shooting criminals. W. Peter Iliff's asinine script, adapted from an original treatment by Iliff and Rick King, is at least partnered with an intrinsically exciting direction from Kathryn Bigelow; she gets the action pumping even when the material is bogus. Keanu Reeves is alternately placid and overeager as the agent who befriends surfing guru Patrick Swayze; both actors manage not to embarrass themselves, though they're stuck playing cartoonish cut-outs, products of a screenwriter's workshop clichés. Bigelow must be attracted to movies with blow hard desk sergeants who do nothing but bellow at their underlings (the Feds in this flick are just as ridiculous as the cops in "Blue Steel"), and she isn't kind to the one central woman in the cast (Lori Petty, whose sass initially substitutes for a character--until she's turned into a victim). Gary Busey does wonders in another clichéd role, that of the crusty veteran saddled with the young upstart, and the surfing footage is very good. Still, "Point Blank" is merely watchable, and about as plausible as an episode of "Scooby Doo". **1/2 from ****
Review of Point Break
