Search - Point of No Return (Keepcase) on DVD

GUILTY PLEASURE

R. Penola | NYC, NY United States | 03/05/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Yes, La Femme Nikita is the real classic. But after repeated viewings on cable, this movie sneaks up on you. For all of its commercial hype and fake glamour, there are guilty pleasures throughout, not the least of which is the emotional core of the relationship between Bridget Fonda and Gabriel Byrne. Dermot Mulroney is also winning in his underwritten role. The wild premise survives the remake, because it is just so compelling and dramatic, and Anne Bancroft steals every scene she appears in. Give it a try, on its own terms."

Good Action Drama

Mark Barry at Reckless Records, Lon | 10/08/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I liked this movie. Fonda does a good job of portraying the drug addict/murderer, Nikita, who is sentenced to death for killing a police officer. She is 'saved' from her death sentence at the last minute by an ultra-covert government agency that allows her to live if she agrees to become an assassin/agent for the agency. To be useful to the agency, Nikita has to be 'civilized' so that she can pass as a normal person in society. She spends a year at the agency's camp, learning how to be a 'lady' and also learning the skills of an assassin. When Fonda's character is finally released into the real world, she meets a man and falls in love with him. Fonda's character IS transformed (by the agency and by love) -- but in the process of becoming 'civilized', she develops a conscience and finds herself less and less able to do the nasty work that the agency demands of her.
I think that all of the actors do a credible job in this film. Gabriel Byrne, as Fonda's control agent, is a perfect combination of cruelty and kindness. Fonda is great -- her character has to have an 'edge' but at the same time, she has to show the growing vulnerability of the 'civilized' Nikita. She makes the character believeable.
And as another reviewer said, the Nina Simone soundtrack adds alot to this film.
In conclusion, you will be entertained by this movie. And by the end, despite the main character's despicable behavior at the opening of the story, you are rooting for her and hoping that she will find a way to escape the agency and to live a normal life.
Watch this movie -- you won't regret it!"