Payback (1999)

Such a frustrating disappointment

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Payback is the third interpretation of Donald E. Westlake's novel The Hunter (1962), written under the pseudonym Richard Stark. A crime thriller novel, the first of the Parker novels. The other films are John Boorman's Point Blank (1967), starring Lee Marvin and Ringo Lam's Full Contact (1992), starring Chow Yun-fat. Payback was directed by Brian Helgeland and written Brian Helgeland (screenplay) and Terry Hayes (screenplay), (theatrical cut). Cinematography was by Ericson Core, and music was by Chris Boardman. The film stars Mel Gibson as Porter, Gregg Henry as Val Resnick, Maria Bello as Rosie, Lucy Liu as Pearl, Deborah Kara Unger as Lynn Porter, David Paymer as Arthur Stegman, Bill Duke as Detective Hicks, Jack Conley as Detective Leary, John Glover as Phil, William Devane as Carter, James Coburn as Fairfax, Kris Kristofferson as Bronson (Theatrical Cut), Sally Kellerman as Bronson (Director's Cut), Trevor St. John as Johnny Bronson (Theatrical Cut), Freddy Rodriguez as Valet, Manu Tupou as Pawnbroker. There are two versions out there the theatrical release and the director's cut.I've seen both versions. The best film version in my opinion would be roughly, the theatrical release with the narration and blue tint then go with the director's cut (but keeping the blue tint) to the ambiguous end. I'd keep the beating also. The film looks great in a Noir-ish way. It homages beautifully classic noir with it voice over narration, the heavy use of stylistics and locations that evoke cinematic memory. Gregg Henry is impressive he evokes the spirit of Dan Duryea.Unfortunately the film goes somewhat slowly off the rails with various scenarios, i.e. Porter cutting a gas line under a an 80s Lincoln which would be physically impossible to do, you can't squeeze under that type of car, no way, and the unneeded extraneous additions of dominatrix Pearl (Liu ) and the Chinese Tong machine gun battle where it veers off into Action film and touches on Tarantino land, when it didn't have to, a shame. The majority of Films Noir were simple stories when you overload then with action sequences you tip the film past the noir tipping point it becomes more of the Action Genre, for me anyway. Give it a fair shake your personal noir tuning fork may accept it more than mine does. Watch also the Film Soleil adaptation of the novel, Point Blank (1967), for a comparison, same story set in California. I haven't seen Chow Yun-fat's Full Contact (1992). Screencaps are from the Paramount DVD. 6.5-7/10

It's natural to have low expectations when watching a remake of a top class movie but in this update of John Boorman's "Point Blank" (1967), sufficient changes have been made to give "Payback" its own distinctive style whilst still retaining the toughness and coldness of the original. Right from the start, its washed-out colour palette effectively evokes the classic film noir look and the addition of a world-weary narration also contributes to the rather ominous atmosphere of the piece.Predictably, for a revenge thriller, there's plenty of action, violence and explosions and a whole gallery of colourful characters that include gangsters, prostitutes and crooked cops. The dialogue is also brilliant throughout and ranges from a typically hardboiled voice-over to some darkly humorous one-liners.Following a heist in which some Chinese gangsters were relieved of $140,000, Porter (Mel Gibson) is betrayed by his two accomplices when his wife Lynn (Deborah Kara Unger) shoots him in the back, leaves him for dead and takes off with his partner Val Resnick (Gregg Henry) and all the loot. After having bullets removed from his back by a whisky-drinking "doctor" and taking five months to recuperate, Porter sets out for revenge and to recover his cut from the heist which amounts to $70,000. His mission is complicated however, because soon after he traces his drug-addicted wife, she dies from a heroin overdose and then he learns that Resnick is unable to pay up because he'd needed $130,000 to repay a debt he owed to a crime syndicate known as "the outfit".With the help of Rosie (Maria Bello), an outfit-connected call girl for whom he used to act as a driver and bodyguard, Porter then pursues the repayment of his money with incredible determination and despite being beaten up and tortured at different stages, remains totally single-minded as he confronts a whole series of the outfit's mobsters. Inevitably, his endeavours eventually bring him into a confrontation with the outfit's top man who's the only one who actually has the authority to repay him but, of course, has no intention of doing so, especially after Porter kidnaps his son.Porter, who's only known by his surname throughout the whole movie, is introduced as a despicable anti-hero who steals money from a street beggar, picks the pocket of a random man in the street and steals cigarettes from a woman who works in a diner. He's regarded as insane by all the mobsters who think that the risks he takes in pursuit of a mere $70,000 are absurd. He obviously sees things differently though because, in his mind, what he's doing involves a matter of principle and this provides the movie with a running joke as, at various times, members of the outfit talk about making higher payments only for Porter to reiterate that the sum he's pursuing is just the $70,000.Mel Gibson is well-suited to his role as he's convincingly tough and violent but also adds a certain tongue-in-cheek quality which distinguishes his performance from that of Lee Marvin's in "Point Blank". The rest of the cast is also very good with Kris Kristofferson, James Coburn and William Devane all standing out and Lucy Lui absolutely sensational as a highly-enthusiastic, leather-clad dominatrix whose sudden outbursts of violence are both physically impressive and comical at the same time."Payback" is visually strong, nicely paced and features some well-executed action sequences. It's thoroughly entertaining from start to finish and despite not reaching the standards set in John Boorman's original, is enjoyable, full of atmosphere and well worth watching.

Mel Gibson is at the top of his form playing a nasty, sociopathic, violent, but exceptionally witty career criminal. Disturbingly, I am pretty certain that this role isn't much of a stretch for him, which is why he so easily wears it like a second skin. You know how you always think of the perfect thing to say ten minutes too late, well, in this flick Mel never misses a beat, and it's quite entertaining. The violence is pretty much non-stop from beginning to end, but it is non-stop with very high production values and mostly not excessively graphic, much of it actually played for sick humor. There's a complete lack of characters with any redeeming traits at all in this movie. There is not one single person that you would like to have anything to do with in real life. It is just degrees from really, really bad to completely, utterly horrible, which is why you wind up rooting for Mel--he's just the best looking and least reprehensible out of a despicable line-up. With all that said, this film grabs your attention at the beginning and never lets go. The script is particularly clever, and there are no bad performances (although, obviously, Kris Kristofferson's serious acting career is more expired than year-old warm milk). Therefore, I must do two things. First, I have to give this film full marks, because it perfectly accomplished everything it set out to do. Second, I have to take a shower, because I feel kind of dirty.

The story premise is another common found robbers, betrayal and revenge. The development also doesn't introduce something new or unique. It's quite boring to see that it's Mel Gibson's way to get back into the action scene, back still bringing the old stuff and offering nothing to looks for. The coloration of the movie is dubiously dark. It emphasizes the movie's whole story of the violent world of crime. The acting is just a so-so performance. Mel Gibson's effort to portray a much more calmer action character than the ones he did in Lethal Weapon movies is not very successful. Having Lucy Liu's start up role here is a good step for her to land better roles later on.