The Point Men (2001)

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

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 .

***SPOILERS***James Bond like action flick that takes place over some half dozen countries involving this crack Israeli Mossod assassination team headed by the though as nails Tony Eckhardt, Christopher Lambert. It's Tony's job to put an end to top Palestine hit-man Amar Kamil, Vincent Reagan, who's out to foil the Israeli Palestinian peace process before it gets off the ground.After escaping an assassin attempt in Luxembourg by Tony's hit-team Kamil had his face surgically altered to look like an AP photographer so he can get back at those who tried to do him in as well as wiped out his entire family of Palestinian guerrillas. Right from the start you see that Kamil means business by having the doctor and nurse, both very pro-Palestinian, who altered his looks murdered for no other reason then in trying to show the audience just what a ruthless and unfeeling psycho he is. With stopping the Israeli Palestinian peace process as the main goal, by those who are backing him, Kamil instead goes after Tony and his hit-team for strictly personal reasons. This gives Tony the drop on Kamil to not only what he's up to but what, with his faced surgically altered, he looks like! In Austria Germany Monaco as well as New York City Kamil whacks almost all of Tony's assassination team members until his not too on the ball, who must have gotten his job by knowing someone in high places, boss Israeli Gen. Ben-Zion, Martin Siegel, finally puts him and what's still left of his team back together. It's now Tony's, who up until then was made to shuffle paper and sharpen pencils, main job to hunt down and put Kamil's reign of terror, in destroying any hopes of peace between the Israelis and Palestinians, to an end. By then Kamil had already made his way back to his home town- Jerusalem-ready willing and able to knock off top Palestinian Representative President Jamil El-Aziz, Patrick Dean, at the peace signing ceremony slated to take place there between him and the Israeli Prime Minister.***SPOILERS*** Despite the almost non-stop action interrupted by the scenic views of the many on location shots in the film the plot was anything but logical or cohesive. Kamil who was so successful in knocking off almost Tony's entire elite hit-team just couldn't get a good shot at Palestinian President Jamil El-Aziz, who we find out is Kamil's half-brother, even when he was less then 20 feet away from him with his gun-site trained on his head! Kamil's flawless escape plan fell apart by the simple reason that his decoy the AP photographer he was impersonating somehow escaped his, Kamil's men, captors! How this was done was never shown in the movie. In fact you get the impression that the flawless escape plan was dropped, for budget reasons, or totally forgotten about by the movie makers with the hope that those watching the film would forgot, in all the confusion, about it as well!

The movie Point Men is essentially a start to finish action movie. Director John Glen gives a trademark stylish view of terrorism set in the middle east. The story is horrific, and even more so knowing it's actually based on a true story.Cinematographer Alec Mills makes the film look very real and gives it the air it needs in forming an atmosphere that's both nice to watch and somewhat difficult to look at as it depicts the tone of violence in an very effective way.Although the film has obvious lack of budget, John Glen somehow manages to make an effective action film that mainly look gloss and feature some breathtaking driving sequences.It has, in glimpses, a sort of Glen's Bond feel to it. The performance from C.Lambert is at his best. Although that doesn't say too much as I have a sneaking suspicion he just about always acts as himself.I'd give it a 7/10 for it's Glen/Mills/Lambert touch.

SPOILERS. This is an action/spy drama that strictly middle of the road. The acting isn't too bad, nor is it too good. The direction is efficient, but no more than that. The script is imaginative but not too much so. You get the picture.Lambert is an intense actor, what with his crossed eyes and desperate features. It's difficult to believe him when he projects happiness with his family of Israeli operatives or, later, with his wife and child. The group seems finally to have dispatched their chief opposite number who will stop at nothing to demolish the Peace Process in the Middle East. He has, however, engineered a tricky escape and begins one by one to pick off the Israelis. Lambert is convinced that it is actually he, the chief baddy, but no one else wants to believe him and he operates on his own, Dirty Harry style. The baddy, by the way, is hard to miss, sort of beefy and evil looking until after his plastic surgery. (And he still looks suspicious to me!) The car of one of the Israelis is forced off the road by the baddy. I always wondered how that was possible. We've all witnessed the scene dozens of times, cars banging into one another at high speed until one goes over a cliff. And it seems to work every time. When this car takes its necessary nose dive onto the rocks at cliff bottom, of course it is not only wrecked but explodes in a fireball. (Not the only fireball in the movie.) That strikes me as a victory of the special effects people over the director and scriptwriters. Anyone who wants to see how the stunt should be believably pulled off, watch John Huston's "Mackintosh Man." And the movie leaves no doubt about who the good guys and bad guys are. It plumps on the side of the Israelis from beginning to end. Not that the chief baddy isn't given his chance, though. At the climax, Lambert holds a pistol in his face and says, "Enough is enough. We have killed the members of your family and you have killed my family. Enough killing." Does the bad guy nevertheless raise his pistol in an attempt to dispose of his worst enemy? Or does he throw his weapon down and walk away peacefully? Guess. Earlier there is even the Palestinian equivalent of the "good German" in those 1950s war movies who recognizes the futility of all this violence and cooperates with the proper authorities. Both sides kill women, but the Israelis do so only in self defense, and the woman is a complete stranger. The bad guy strangles a stunning blonde whom we've gotten to know and who definitely should not have been snuffed, and he murders her in cold blood.In sum: Nothing much new here. If it comes on late at night and you can't sleep, well -- give it a shot.