Grosse Pointe Blank: Music From The Film by Various Artists (1997) - Soundtrack

Largely the conceit of co-writer/star John Cusack, "Grosse Point Blank" is oft compared to Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction," which brings to mind that old adage about apples and oranges. Cusack's film is, in its own right, the morally bleaker (and funnier) of the two--a shaggy dog tale about a neurotic young hitman returning home for his tenth high school reunion. The first in what appears to be a slew of films ready to cash in on '80s nostalgia (gen-Xers apparently having learned little from the Baby Boomers they sneer at), "Grosse Point"'s song score covers the decade like a shotgun blast, from the Violent Femmes bouncy "Blister" to Guns 'n' Roses overwrought "Live and Let Die". Minus points: the Clash is represented, but not Joe Strummer's incidental score. --Jerry McCulley