Something Cult, Foreign-Language or Indie #231: Point Break (1991).

 

In California, a group of robbers have been targeting banks. They call themselves the Ex-Presidents because they disguise themselves under rubber masks of Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter and Lyndon B. Johnson. Meanwhile, rookie FBI Agent and ex-footballer Johnny Utah (Keanu Reeves) aids seasoned agent Angelo Pappas (Gary Busey) in hunting them down. Upon learning the Ex-Presidents are surfers, Utah resolves to investigate the local surf scene and then go undercover as a surfer in order to find the group. Once he does, their charismatic leader Bodhi (Patrick Swayze) takes Johnny under his wing and nurtures him. Johnny soon finds his loyalty to his job tested, with Pappas and their domineering superior Ben Earp (John C. McGinley) breathing down his neck, until he's brought back into line to bring the Ex-Presidents to justice.

This 1991 effort by director Kathryn Bigelow and writer W. Peter Iliff suffered commercially because it was released the same week as that year's biggest blockbuster, Bigelow's then-husband James Cameron's Terminator 2: Judgment Day (Cameron, in fact, executive-produced Point Break), but it's deservedly enjoyed a rebirth since then with a considerable cult following. Now, I'm still trying to work out how the bank customers could take the robbers seriously in those truly ridiculous president masks but despite that, I had a lot of fun watching this caper. Bigelow paces and visualises each action scene with ferocious zest and confidence, and she and Iliff also keep an insistent eye on ensuring the narrative unfolds intelligently. Bigelow also draws decent turns from her almost entirely male cast (even Reeves), with McGinley stealing the show.

It's also fluidly edited, energetically filmed and with a pulsating score. Point Break probably won't make me into a surfer (I have nowhere near enough balance to be one anyway, and I get seasick), but it still slapped a smile on my dial for its full duration.