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Point Man
USA 2018
produced by Phil Blattenberger, Joe W Nowland, Branden Cobb, Rick Anicetti (executive), Benjamin J. Ditty (executive), David Ferrel (executive), Dan Black (executive) for MBG Films, Lost Galleon Pictures, Hawk9 Productions, Starring Entertainment
directed by Phil Blattenberger
starring Christopher Long, Jacob Keohane, Chase Gutzmore, Marcus Bailey, Matthew Ewald, Cody Howard, William Shannon Williams, Paul de Havilland, Bryan Bachman, James Roseman, Acorye' White, Joe W Nowland, Triston Dye, John Charles Harnett, Simon Poppelreiter, Perry Balentine, Michael P. Walker, Marianne del Gallego, Luke Hicks, Jimmy Ace Lewis, Oun Bi, Oussa Suos, Lance Parker, Jeff Williams, Branden Cobb, Timothy Weal, Bridger Trent, Adam Brudnicki, Matthew Sara, Zander Krenger, Gabe Bermudez, Jason Damico, Michael Lee, Julian Morgan, Phil Blattenberger, Kathy Huynh, Jinna Kim, Kimberly Bui, Adeline Bui
written by Phil Blattenberger, music by AEO Studios
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
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It's 1968, times of racial tensions and civil unrest in the USA,
especially after the assassination of Martin Luther King jr ... but we're
in Vietnam, where black and white Marines are supposed to fight side by
side against the common enemy, the Vietcong - theoretically at least,
practically it's still a fact that the whites get the better weapons, the
blacks the less desirable positions in whatever squadron - including point
man.
For their latest mission, Lieutnant Sutter's (Matthew Ewald) platoon is
to track down and if possible save the Bravo platoon that went missing in
action a few days ago - and in their first confrontation with the enemy,
Casper (Christopher Long), Meeks (Jacob Keohane), Joe (Chase Gutzmore) and
Felix (Marcus Bailey) get cut off from the rest of their platoon, which
would be bad enough, but what's more is that Meeks is a confessing racist,
and his brothers in arms are all black. So the tensions are there from the
get-go, but it only gets worse when they actually manage to track down
part of Bravo platoon - when they're about to execute some civilians ...
which is where Casper blows a fuse, and he mows down the Bravo Marines
instead. Everybody's in shock, but Casper proves to them that at least his
heart is in the right place, and soon enough Joe finds himself shooting a
Marine who tries to rape a civilian. Of course, this gets the four of them
into a difficult situation, but while the others agree to stick together,
Meeks soon finds a way to get away to save his own hide ... but he only
runs into a Vietcong ambush, and it wasn't for his black comrades, he
would have been executed as well. But it's war, and since nobody can trust
anybody anymore, Meeks makes up more and more plans to get out of the
skerfuffle he's in, even if that leaves not only his comrades but also him
in a worse position ...
Low budget this movie might be, but it's also a very nice war
movie that's based less on spectacle and explosions (though there are
those) and more on the actual psychodrama that war actually is, which also
includes the bare fact that patriotism just isn't the same for everybody,
and wearing a uniform, however deserved, doesn't save you from racism. But
the film brings all of this across in a subtle way - and that's not saying
it veils its "message" in a ton of metaphors, quite the
opposite's the case, but it really puts the story over everything else,
and really enjoys telling its story in a well-structured and well-paced
way. And a directorial effort getting the most out of its locations, and
solid performances from all involved make this one a really great watch!
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