Line #25 Film/PointOfOrigin


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4	''Point of Origin'' is a 2002 Creator/{{HBO}} original drama film, starring Creator/RayLiotta, Creator/JohnLeguizamo, and Creator/ColmFeore.
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6	In TheEighties, California is devastated by a series of fires. Arson investigator and fire captain John Leonard Orr (Liotta) is looking for the responsible party.
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9	!!Tropes present in this film
10	* ArcWords: "If you wanna catch this guy, you must recognize that this is about ego."
11	* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Lang says he knows Orr and refuses to believe he is the arsonist. ATF agent Matassa asks Lang: "Did you ever wonder why John was ''so'' good at finding these time-delayed devices?" Afterwards, Lang goes on to spy on Orr.
12	* BasedOnATrueStory: "This film is based upon a true story."
13	* BrokenPedestal: At first, Lang refuses to believe that Orr, the man who taught him everything he knows, could be responsible for all the fires. But when Orr is arrested and found guilty, Lang just looks like a kicked puppy.
14	* DaydreamSurprise: When Orr is arrested, he [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lmGg8llb-M daydreams that he fights back]] by pulling out [[GunsAkimbo dual handguns]] (one of which is [[HandCannon an absolutely massive revolver]]) and blasting all of the cops away in a display of acrobatic GunFu when he is actually being dragged to the patrol car.
15	* DeathOfAChild: In the first fire scene shown, a little kid can be seen looking around and calling for his grandma. He succumbs to the smoke. During the investigation, Orr shows the little boy's charred corpse to Lang.
16	* DetectiveMole: Because no member of the investigation team suspects Orr (at first), they consult him, bring him to the crime scenes and even ask him to create a psychological profile of the arsonist.
17	* FirefighterArsonist: The whole movie is a {{Dramatization}} of the hunt for RealLife serial arsonist John Leonard Orr--a fire captain and arson investigator for the Glendale Fire Department in Southern California.
18	* [[invoked]]GratuitousRape: When Wanda reads the manuscript, she is repulsed by a scene where the arsonist stalks and rapes a girl but he claims he put it in to make it more realistic.
19	* HistoricalBeautyUpgrade: Underneath the glasses, the mustache, and the beer belly, it is still Ray Liotta. The real life Orr was nowhere near as handsome.
20	* JurisdictionFriction:
21	** The District Attorney wants to brings in the feds but Orr claims that the ATF is just a bunch of bureaucrats disguised as bomb experts and that HE works better alone.
22	** Lang accuses Camello of siding with the ATF "against one of us" for insisting they follow ATF protocol and put Orr under surveillance. Camello retorts that if indeed Orr is the arsonist, "he is not 'one of us'."
23	* KillerCop: Orr may work for the fire department but given that he is an arson investigator, his job falls under the law enforcement category. And by starting fires that led to deaths, he qualifies as a killer.
24	* MaleGaze: The camera makes sure we get a good look at the girl in the short shorts and skimpy top in a very thin fabric. The arsonist makes a big deal of admiring her top to try and cop a feel.
25	* MetafictionalTitle: ''Points of Origin'' is the title of the book [[WritingAboutYourCrime John Leonard Orr is writing about his arson spree]].
26	* NoTellMotel: After being told that Orr is the arsonist and refusing to believe it, Lang follows Orr in his car and sees him meet a woman at a sleazy hotel.
27	* PaperThinDisguise: The arsonist's disguise is a wig and sunglasses.
28	* ParentalNeglect: Orr spends all his time at home in the basement, either working in the investigation or on his writing. His wife Wanda tells him she spends more time with his kids than he does, and she is not even their real mother.
29	* TheProfiler: Orr gives a profile of the arsonist to the task force: he starts the fires on stores frequented by women, using a time-delayed device. He has trouble in his relationships with women, he is a loner, etc.
30	* TheReveal: Orr, the arson investigator, is the one ''causing'' the fires. That is why he is so good at locating the incendiary devices, as Matassa points out.
31	* RomanAClef: Orr's unpublished manuscript for a novel about an arsonist includes details only the arsonist would know. Wanda points out that his hero is VERY similar to Orr and finds it creepy.
32	* {{Tagline}}: "When fire becomes an obsession... truth becomes stranger than fiction."
33	* ThisCannotBe: Lang is told that Orr is the arsonist and he first thinks it is a joke, then insists someone made a mistake with the fingerprint match. Matassa tells him that they only need a six-point match to make a positive ID. Orr's prints yielded a ''thirteen-point'' match to that left. Lang insists it is impossible because Orr is a workaholic and is always at all the scenes. Matassa's ArmorPiercingQuestion, "Did you ever wonder why John was ''so'' good at finding these time-delayed devices?" makes him storm out.
34	* WeNeedADistraction: It is pointed out that fires occur at the same time when a conference on arson is taking place. In other words, leaving the fire stations understaffed.
35	* WorkingWithTheEx: Both Lang and Ambria are assigned to work on the task force. It is awkward for Lang, who admits that she dumped him when she met someone else.

Context Film / PointOfOrigin