When she was still a big part of show business Bridget Fonda was great, she was fun to watch, had a decent sense of humor and could even pull off an action role in an era when women weren’t given much thought when it came to their being aggressive on film. But as her profile might tell you she did step away from the industry in the early 2000s and a lot of people haven’t even thought twice about her since, though if you stop and take a look she’s been a part of some very memorable movies that were a lot of fun and in some cases were even able to help shape the movie industry back in her day. As far as the 90s she was one of the women that we looked for at times since she was a good deal of fun and she was capable of delivering a great performance when asked to do so. It’s too bad that she’s not in the business any longer but people do have to realize when they have to look differently at their priorities.

Here are the five best movies from her career.

5. Lake Placid

For more than a decade, Bridget Fonda had Tinseltown eating from the palm of her hand—and then she disappeared. Danny Elfman and Bridget Fonda dropped $3.6 million on a full-on fixer upper next door to their L.A.

This had all the elements to become a silly and goofy movie and it kind of went that route since despite being horror-based it was still comical enough just from a reasonable standpoint since a crocodile the size of a small bus going unnoticed in a land-bound lake is kind of hard to swallow. But as a horror movie it does kind of work since this is the kind of creature that’s so insanely dangerous that it can be lethal on land as well as in the water. The fact that it had Oliver Platt and that he was an associate of Fonda’s character only made things better since it brought comedy and horror together in a big way that was hard not to like.

4. Doc Hollywood

A romcom is something that has a pretty big expectation since it needs to be funny enough to laugh at but still touching enough to really make a person go ‘awww’ in their own way. Thankfully Doc Hollywood fires on all cylinders when it comes to this since Michael J. Fox at his peak was absolutely great. Fonda played kind of a smaller role in this movie but she was noticeable in a way since she was one of those characters that you kind of wonder why they’re there to begin with, but eventually realize are just another part of the story that needs to be there in order to round things out and make it work just a little more.

3. Singles

The Grunge era in Seattle, Washington was its own movement back in the 90s and it was one of the biggest things going for a while since at ground zero it kind of had a huge effect on a lot of people that continued to spread and spread as more people took it up. But apart from that movement was the idea that people had such a huge issue when it came to simply getting together, staying together, and simply finding a compromise when it was needed. Janet finally looked like she was ready to move on by the end when Cliff finally realized that she was the woman that he needed in her life. Oy, relationships.

2. Single White Female

Inkoo Kang of The Wrap has quite a bit to say about this movie and how it adapts to the current era, but in truth this movie is all kinds of disturbing since it shows just how bad obsession can get. When Hedy moves in with Allie you can almost hear the ominous music mounting with each passing second since quite obviously Hedy has a few issues. You can count the kills as the movie goes along and since each one of them, apart from her own, are on Hedy’s account, you can guess that this woman has no problem getting rid of anyone that seems to stand in the way of her getting what she wants.

1. Point of No Return

It’s not often that you see a drug addict taken in and taught how to kill people, but it definitely worked for this movie since Fonda, as Maggie, took this business to heart as she went on doing the bidding of her employers until she’d had enough of it. At one point she even had a cleaner that had been sent by the agency to take her out for a failure that she’d been responsible for, but as you might guess she got out of that as well and could have been running for the rest of her life. But thankfully her handler did the right thing and reported her as dead, which usually gets about a 50/50 chance in the movies.

It’d be nice if she came back for a short appearance, but don’t hold your breath.

Point of No Return (also known as The Assassin) is a 1993 American action film directed by John Badham and starring Bridget Fonda and Gabriel Byrne. It is a remake of Luc Besson's 1990 film La Femme Nikita.

Maggie Hayward (Bridget Fonda) is a violent and unstable drug addict found guilty of murdering a police officer, and is sentenced to death by lethal injection. Her death is faked, and a secret government agent named Bob (Gabriel Byrne) informs her that she is to become an assassin. She is given a makeover and training that transform her into a beautiful woman, and she is also trained as a killer. Her career as an assassin goes well at first. Then, after a mission goes awry, the agency sends in Victor (Harvey Keitel), a 'cleaner,' to kill everyone and destroy the bodies.

Plot[edit]

Maggie Hayward (Bridget Fonda) is a drug addict found guilty of murdering a police officer during a robbery shootout, and is about to be sentenced to death by lethal injection. Her demise is faked and a spy named Bob (Gabriel Byrne) informs her that she has to work for him. Maggie, having little choice, reluctantly agrees to cooperate and begins a regimen of intensive training that includes not only martial arts and firearms training, but etiquette and computer use.

Senior Operative Amanda (Anne Bancroft) transforms her into a refined, beautiful woman. She is taken on a dinner date with Bob, who informs her about the first job: an assassination of a VIP eating at the same restaurant. Maggie kills the VIP and his bodyguard and then is pursued by a team of the VIP's bodyguards. She shoots several of the bodyguards and then escapes from the kitchen by jumping down a laundry chute. This task was her final test and she has now completed her training.

The following morning she leaves for Venice, California, where she enters into a romantic relationship with apartment house manager J.P. (Dermot Mulroney). While her first assignments, both hit jobs, are ultimately successful, Maggie quickly comes to hate her work and tries to quit her job as a professional killer. As things progress between her and J.P. and her double life threatens their relationship, she asks for help in leaving the agency. Her request is denied, but Bob agrees to get her out of the agency if she completes the next task.

The new job is to masquerade as Angela (Olivia d'Abo), the girlfriend of Fahd Bakhtiar (Richard Romanus), an Iranian trading in nuclear weapons. As she prepares for the job, J.P. continues to complain about her mysterious friends and mocks the improvised backstory that Bob had provided for himself and Maggie. Maggie is shown watching a scene from Deception, in which a woman kills a former lover to keep their past secret from her new husband, reflecting Maggie's determination to kill her employers if necessary to protect her relationship with J.P.

Taking out Angela proves problematic and results in the deaths of Angela's two bodyguards and the injury of Maggie's partner, Beth (Lorraine Toussaint). Director Kaufman (Miguel Ferrer) then sends in Victor, a 'cleaner' (Harvey Keitel) to get rid of the bodies and salvage the mission. Unknown to Maggie, he has also been ordered to kill both agents as well because one failure results in death. After killing the wounded Beth in front of Maggie, he drives her to Fahd's home. At gunpoint she gets Fahd to unlock his computer and reveal his secrets, but he avoids execution and she is forced to flee.

As they purportedly drive back to her residence, Maggie sees a gun in Victor's waistband and correctly suspects that he is going to kill her. This leads to a struggle and the car spins out of control. Ultimately, Victor is dragged over a ravine and killed. Maggie makes her way back to her apartment, but leaves sometime during the night. Bob subsequently learns of her disappearance from J.P. As Bob is leaving, he sees Maggie watching him through the mist. Instead of reporting her, he calls Kaufman and informs him, after some hesitation, that the cleaner and Maggie are both dead.

Cast[edit]

• Bridget Fonda as Maggie Hayward/Claudia Anne Doran/Nina
• Gabriel Byrne as Bob
• Dermot Mulroney as J.P.
• Anne Bancroft as Amanda
• Harvey Keitel as Victor
• Miguel Ferrer as Kaufman
• Olivia d'Abo as Angela
• Richard Romanus as Fahd Bakhtiar
• Geoffrey Lewis as Drugstore owner
• Michael Rapaport as Big Stan
• John Badham as Room service waiter
• Lorraine Toussaint as Beth

Reception[edit]

The film grossed approximately $30,038,362 in the US and received mixed reviews. Film critic Roger Ebert, who gave the original La Femme Nikita three and a half stars out of four,^[1] gave Return three stars, saying: 'Point of No Return is actually a fairly effective and faithful adaptation and Bridget Fonda manages the wild identity swings of her role with intensity and conviction, although not the same almost poetic sadness that Anne Parillaud brought to the original movie. If I didn't feel the same degree of involvement with Point of No Return that I did with Nikita it may be because the two movies are so similar in plot, look, and feel. I had déjà vu all through the movie. There are a few changes, mostly not for the better. By making the heroine's boyfriend a photographer this time instead of a checkout clerk, the movie loses the poignancy of their relationship; Nikita liked her clerk precisely because he was completely lacking in aggression.'^[2] The film holds an approval rating of 50% at Rotten Tomatoes gave, based on 24 reviews.^[3]

Box office[edit]

The film debuted at No. 2 at the box office.^[4]

Soundtrack[edit]

Maggie/Claudia has a fascination with the singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone. Throughout the film, various songs of Simone's are used.

• 'Here Comes the Sun'
• 'I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl'
• 'Feeling Good'
• 'Wild Is the Wind'
• 'Black Is the Color (Of My True Love's Hair)'

Together with the earlier re-release of 'My Baby Just Cares for Me' in 1982, the film helped bring Nina Simone back into the public limelight and made her better known with a younger audience.

Watch saw 2 123movies. The film score was composed by Hans Zimmer.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^Ebert, Roger (April 3, 1991). 'La Femme Nikita review'. Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
2. ^Ebert, Roger (March 19, 1993). 'Point of No Return review'. Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
3. ^'Point of No Return (The Assassin) (1993)'. Rotten Tomatoes.
4. ^Fox, David (March 23, 1993). 'Weekend Box Office Ninja Turtles Capture Top Spot'. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 9, 2010.

External links[edit]

• Point of No Return on IMDb
• Point of No Return at the TCM Movie Database
• Point of No Return at AllMovie
• Point of No Return at Box Office Mojo
• Point of No Return at Rotten Tomatoes