Point of Origin is a 2002 HBO original drama film, starring Ray Liotta, John Leguizamo, and Colm Feore.
In The '80s, California is devastated by a series of fires. Arson investigator and fire captain John Leonard Orr (Liotta) is looking for the responsible party.
Tropes present in this film
- Arc Words: "If you wanna catch this guy, you must recognize that this is about ego."
- Armor-Piercing Question: 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.
- Based on a True Story: "This film is based upon a true story."
- Broken Pedestal: 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.
- Daydream Surprise: When Orr is arrested, he daydreams that he fights back
by pulling out dual handguns (one of which is an absolutely massive revolver) and blasting all of the cops away in a display of acrobatic Gun Fu when he is actually being dragged to the patrol car. - Death of a Child: 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.
- Detective Mole: 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.
- Firefighter Arsonist: The whole movie is a Dramatization of the hunt for Real Life serial arsonist John Leonard Orr—a fire captain and arson investigator for the Glendale Fire Department in Southern California.
- Gratuitous Rape: 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.
- Historical Beauty Upgrade: Underneath the glasses, the mustache, and the beer belly, it is still Ray Liotta. The real life Orr was nowhere near as handsome.
- Jurisdiction Friction:
- 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.
- 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'."
- Killer Cop: 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.
- Male Gaze: 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.
- Metafictional Title: Points of Origin is the title of the book John Leonard Orr is writing about his arson spree.
- No-Tell Motel: 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.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: The arsonist's disguise is a wig and sunglasses.
- Parental Neglect: 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.
- The Profiler: 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.
- The Reveal: 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.
- Roman à Clef: 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.
- Tagline: "When fire becomes an obsession... truth becomes stranger than fiction."
- This Cannot Be!: 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 Armor-Piercing Question, "Did you ever wonder why John was so good at finding these time-delayed devices?" makes him storm out.
- We Need a Distraction: 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.
- Working with the Ex: 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.
- Writing About Your Crime: One of the film's subplots is Orr writing a novel about the arson spree that he is orchestrating, with him as the hero. It's more proof that he is a very egocentric madman beneath it all. He also adds additional crimes for his fictional version of the arsonist (such as being a rapist) that are more disturbing to the rest of the cast once they figure out he is the real arsonist.
