Payback (1999)

PAYBACK is wonderfully entertaining nod to the film noir drama that puts a great star smack dab in the middle of a great story and he totally runs with it. This dark and delicious film stars Mel Gibson as Porter, a former Mafioso who was left for dead by a former running partner and robbed of his half of a heist ($70,000.00)and Porter's single-minded quest to get his money back, not concerned with what he has to do or who has to kill to get it. The funny thing about the story is that all the people who stand in his way can't believe Porter is going to all this trouble for only $70,000.00...which is chump change where mob money is concerned, but this doesn't concern Porter, who just wants it back, no more, no less. Gibson appears to be thoroughly enjoying himself here, in one of his most off-beat and engaging characterizations. Effective support is provided by Maria Bello, James Coburn, Kris Kristofferson, Gregg Henry, David Paymer, William Devane, John Glover, and a brief but memorable turn from Lucy Lieu. The cinematography is dark and dreary(it almost looks like it's in B&W, but's it not)but it fits the style of the film perfectly. The story is simple and straightforward and will keep you engrossed until the final credits roll...an under-appreciated sleeper that got by a lot of people.

Fmovies: The fight I refereed with Roy Jones Jr v Bryant Brannon for the IBF Supermiddleweight world title held in the Theater at Madison Square Garden in 1996 is shown briefly in a long shot where you see me as the referee. It is combined with a completely different studio shot of two actors portraying boxers. The same footage of me refereeing the same fight is shown more completely in "The Devil's Advocate," with Al Pacino Keanu Reeves.

I'ts not often a film comes along that has a great script , great acting and good soundtrack but Payback has all these.Mel Gibson plays a guy who has been ripped of by the tune of $70,000 and this is the violent story of how he get round to getting it back.The film takes you on a journey where you ride many twists and turns and you meet lots of great personalities on the way , most of which end up dead. Mel Gibson try's his best to be nasty but you cant help but like him. He could play Jack the ripper and you would still end up liking him! Anyway catch this movie asap. 9 out of 10

Payback fmovies. Mel (as Parker aka Porter) is a bad guy who comes across as a good guy because everyone else in this flic is even more nasty than he is. It's a simple play on perspective not often utilized in the movies. Usually, the hero is A HERO, white hat and all, even with a few quirks or deficiencies to his character. Not so, here. And the key to the whole picture is buying into Mel as a bad man, all despite his many years in heroic roles beforehand. It works very well, especially in the beginning, where it really needed to. There's an early scene during the credits where Mel forces himself to smile in a mirror, as preparation for putting forth his 'best face' to a teller at a bank. One gets the impression this really is a man unaccustomed to smiling, a sour, angry man. The early scenes also recall the beginning of "Miami Blues," that being a criminal swooping into town and wasting no time in bringing a little terror & hardship on certain select bystanders. There's a danger, in a film sense, of satirizing such moments too much, to the point of slapstick comedy - rather than dark comedy, which it really is. But Mel doesn't mess around here: he means business, bashing scum left & right, and blowing 'em away as he moves up the ladder of an organized crime organization. The rest of the cast is top-notch, by the way. The casting directors must have had a field day on this one. Then Mel himself is beaten; the whole theme of the movie seems to be about pain: how much one can stand; how much one can dish out. It ends up being very cathartic. The cinematography also helps this picture: the photography is quite stark,ultra-crisp, adding to the 'punch' of the whole show. The lines on Mel's face are deeper than ever; he seems to carry years of pain there. And years of guilt, maybe.

A modern-day film noir, this is about as tough as it gets. Rough characters, rough violence and rough language all comprise this re-make of the 1967 film "Point Blank," which starred Lee Marvin.

Mel Gibson is the "good guy" here, taking Marvin's role, but I put that in quotes because he's not really "good," just a thief attempting to get his $70,000 back which was stolen from him by his partner and ex-wife in a former heist. He goes up the ladder, little guy to the top boss, to finally get his money.

Gibson gets beaten up several times and even gets tortured in one toes- crunching scene. The women are tough-looking, coarse and unappealing. I did like the metallic-blue hues in here, making this an interesting visual film. However, the city scenes are bleak, a la Batman.

Despite the above, I still found the movie good enough to watch several times. Most people like a simple, revenge story which this really is, and there is dark humor in here, too. The other characters are interesting, particularly the one played by William Devane. I also liked the narration by Gibson, done in 1940s film noir style. The worst person in here was the sadistic "Val Resnick" (Gregg Henry). He was so bad, he was cartoon-ish, someone so bad he belonged in one of those Batman or Hellboy or Spiderman flicks.

Payback directed by Brian Helgeland is a classic "film noir" following the tradition of urban "gangster movies" and Mel Gibson is giving an outstanding performance as Porter - the bad guy who is only slightly better than the rest of the gangsters, hoodlums, crooks and scoundrels to be met in the film.

"Payback" is a great movie in this genre. Donald E. Westlake, who has written the novel on which the film is based, has picked up the thread of Raymond Chandler and Dashiel Hammett to create an authentic universe with "real" characters, and Brian Helgeland has succeeded to bring this universe to the screen.

Everything about this movie is great - the storyboard, the cast, the direction and the soundtrack. This film bears resemblance to Sergio Leone's "The Good, the Bad & the Ugly" and if you have seen "the Maltese Falcon" starring Bogart, you should definitely see "Payback".