Point Break

Point Break (1991) is a heist film on the surface and a love story underneath, and the love story is between two men. A crew in Los Angeles robs banks wearing masks of former presidents: Reagan, Nixon, Carter, Johnson. FBI agent Johnny Utah suspects they are surfers and learns to surf to get among them. He meets Bodhi, and from that point the film stops being an investigation. Utah's problem is not that he cannot catch Bodhi. It is that he does not want to. The life Bodhi offers is genuinely attractive and the film does not pretend otherwise. Kathryn Bigelow was married to James Cameron at the time and he was one of the producers. His name is small in the credits but his hand is visible. The set stories are part of the film's reputation. Patrick Swayze did most of his own skydiving, making over fifty five jumps despite the producers objecting to the risk. Keanu Reeves did some of his own surfing. Bigelow does not shoot the action as a display of masculinity. In the foot chase the camera is out of breath the entire time. It was remade in 2015, which proved why the original was special. It runs 122 minutes. Good for: nineties action, surfing, and cult films. Less good for: there is gun violence, some of the dialogue belongs to its period, and some viewers find it too pleased with itself.