--- title: Point Break at 25: 'Pretty But Dumb,' Said TIME Critic description: On the 25th anniversary of the release of Point Break—starring Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze—see the 1991 TIME review by Richard Corliss. canonical: https://time.com/4394685/point-break-25th-anniversary/ author: Olivia B. Waxman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-07-12T12:30:14.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T23:04:28.224Z article:section: History og:title: 'Point Break' at 25: From 'Pretty But Dumb' to 'Underrated' og:description: The film was released on July 12, 1991 og:url: https://time.com/4394685/point-break-25th-anniversary/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf329fa08f62da854/69889ad00a4a226c2b9ca5c9/gettyimages-51730643.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5010 og:image:height: 2818 og:image:alt: Reeves & Swayze In 'Point Break' og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'Point Break' at 25: From 'Pretty But Dumb' to 'Underrated' twitter:description: The film was released on July 12, 1991 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf329fa08f62da854/69889ad00a4a226c2b9ca5c9/gettyimages-51730643.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # _Point Break_ at 25: From 'Pretty But Dumb' to 'Underrated' > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription.  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Jul 12, 2016 12:30 PM UTC  Lebanese-born American actor Keanu Reeves and American actor Patrick Swayze stand on a beach as Swayze holds a surfboard during the filming of the action movie Point Break directed by Kathryn Bigelow, 1991. Lebanese-born American actor Keanu Reeves and American actor Patrick Swayze stand on a beach as Swayze holds a surfboard during the filming of the action movie Point Break directed by Kathryn Bigelow, 1991. Richard Foreman/Fotos International—Getty Images  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Jul 12, 2016 12:30 PM UTC Twenty-five years ago, [_Point Break_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102685/)_,_ now a surfer-heist film staple, made waves in movie theaters nationwide, boasting a heartthrob cast, starring Keanu Reeves as FBI agent “Johnny Utah,” who goes undercover to nail down the whereabouts of bank-robbing surfers led by [Patrick Swayze](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,1924509,00.html). Back then, TIME’s movie critic Richard Corliss found a lot to love about _Point Break_ visually, but summed up the story as “pretty but dumb” in the first sentence of his [review “Board Stiff”](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,973430,00.html): --- > “” --- By 2005, however, the movie had firmly moved into cult-classic territory. _Point Break’_s star Reeves is “Hollywood’s ultimate introvert,” [TIME noted in 2005](http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1027496,00.html), and “really scores in high-concept, high-budget action films, where his signature earnest gravitas and world-weary innocence turn what could be standard-issue, effects-heavy tent poles—_Speed_, the _Matrix_ movies, the underrated _Point Break—_into genuinely compelling entertainment. Something about that mysterious reserve, the total earnestness, the unwinking way he commits to the most absurd scenarios, makes free falls from planes and wire-fighting cyber-ninja-stics feel like a philosophy lesson.” [_Get your history fix in one place: sign up for the weekly TIME History newsletter_](http://time.com/newsletter) The 2015 _Point Break_ remake, however, featuring new extreme sports snowboarding and motocross, was considered a wipeout, both in terms of U.S. box office sales and [critics’ consensus.](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/point%5Fbreak%5F2013/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4394685/point-break-25th-anniversary/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4394685/point-break-25th-anniversary/"},"headline":"Point Break at 25: From 'Pretty But Dumb' to 'Underrated'","datePublished":"2016-07-12T12:30:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T23:04:28.224Z","description":"The film was released on July 12, 1991","url":"https://time.com/4394685/point-break-25th-anniversary/","keywords":["movies"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf329fa08f62da854/69889ad00a4a226c2b9ca5c9/gettyimages-51730643.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. 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