Payback Review
by Nick Amado (namado AT concentric DOT net)February 10th, 1999
Review: Payback
Starring: Mel Gibson, Maria Bello, James Coburn, Gregg Henry, William Devane, David Paymer, Kris Kristofferson Directed by Brian Helgeland
Approx 110 min
Payback combines an interesting mix of 50's film noir and 90's
ultra-cool cinema. It has extreme anlges, strange lighting, slow
motion and that gritty true crime feel of the Pulp Fiction
generation. But there is also some carefully placed narration by the
lead and a near black and white feel achieved through lens filters
that makes the entire film look blue. Bright and colorful wouldn't
have made sense at all. There are no redeeming characters in the
film. The hero is a career thief who kills a number of people without
hesitation. The good guy of the group.
Payback is dark, violent and unredeeming, but it was very
exciting. Perhaps what was so great about it was the film's premise; a
fellow who will stop at nothing to take back the $70,000 that was
taken from him. (Stolen money of course.) In today's market, that's
nothing. Most crime films deal in millions, or at least hundreds of
thousands. It was a joke in Austin Powers that a maniac wanted million
dollars in ransom money. Here, Porter (Gibson) wants the money he was
cheated out of. (He and a partner pulled a $140,00 theft and his
partner turned on him. Tried to kill him too, but that's incidental.)
I felt that I always knew where Porter was going from scene to scene,
which was rather interesting. It sounds like that would make it
predictable, which, to a certain extent it was, but it also offered
something much more unique. There is nothing terribly deep to this
character, but he had a drive that I think many people, certainly
myself, could relate to. He wanted what was his, and even though his
life was ruined as it was taken from him, he wanted to make sure that
he got what he worked for, no more, no less. And so as he goes about
this journey, I was quite proud that I was "in" on the plan. Although
he was very clever, he wasn't dealing with some intricate system with
which one must be familiar in order to understand, he was just going
after some thugs who had his money. There is a primal urge kind of
charm to Payback.
It is also interesting to note that mega-star Gibson took ahold of the
film in the editing room. Apparently he was not happy with the
direction in which Helgeland was taking it, so he took hold of the
reins. I would like to have seen how this film was supposed to
unfold. I can only imagine it was rather confusing and convoluted,
perhaps read more like a mystery or susupense. In either event,
Payback was fulfilling enough for me, and if you like tough guy
movies, then you'll like Payback.
* * * out of * * * * stars
©1999 Nick Amado
for more of Nick's reviews...
www.writerboy.com/nick
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
