Payback [1998] [1999]

I love black humour, and this is about as black as you get...yet, somehow...you short of grin and bear it. Mel is a good bad guy...he set up a robbery and just wants his share that was stole from his jealousy wife and partner. James Colburn puts in a wonderful performance - again - and the whole cast is marvellous repellant.......

You will watch this film, and wonder why you enjoyed it....

This is NOT a typical Mel Gibson film, so even if you love Mel you might have a hard time with this film. If you don't like off the wall, really grim, black humour, this one is NOT for you.

If you have a weak stomach, it is most definitely for NOT NOT NOT for you. However, is you like Pulp Fiction or films of that ilk...then you will enjoy Mel's walk on the wild side.


something of a radical new direction for Mel Gibson   February 4, 2001
8 out of 14 found this review helpful

Violent and amoral, with a perverse and scaldingly black sense of humour, PAYBACK shows what the wattage of true Movie Star quality can do for a film in much the same way as Julia Roberts did in ERIN BROCKOVICH.

This time, the pearly grin's been replaced by a sour grimace, which gets sourer as the film goes on and the wisecracks are from a coal face. Even Gibson's normally glib, flighty tone of voice has turned into a gravelly drawl, deadpan and cynical. One wonders how many pints of whisky this man coated his vocal chords in, when preparing to play Porter.

The story is basically thus. A loose remake of John Boorman's POINT BLANK, Porter (Gibson) is cheated out of his $70,000 share of the proceeds from a raid on a local Triad gang. This we learn in Flashback, as Porter narrates his tale of vengeance, and we follow him as he sets out to reclaim it, killing those who he judges as needful of killing and generally, this means everyone who dares get in his way, from his smacked-out wife (Deborah Kara Unger, showing a different side to her femme fatale act, first displayed in THE GAME), to the superbly debonair gang boss William Devane, whose only response to being killed by Porter is one of incredulous surprise.

Along the way, Porter manages to pick up some people whom would like to see him dead once more, perhaps with a view to staying dead this time. These include David Paymer's nervy cab dispatcher and a pair of very bent cops, intent on getting Porter's $70,000 for themselves. Best of all, though, is Lucy Liu's dominatrix, who provides the film with a welcome and much-needed comic counterpoint, as the only character arguably worse than Porter himself.

If the rumours are true and Gibson really did have a quarter of the impact he felt Bryan Helgeland's original footage lacked, then this supreme act of movie star generally pays off. What might be classed otherwise as gratuitous violence comes off as welcomingly ironic and hard-edged, in the case of such scenes as Porter's off-handedly blowing up of a car full of gangsters, or shooting his former partner (a suavely hissable Gregg Henry).

But now, the downside. Maria Bello, as Porter's hooker girlfriend isn't given enough screen time, either on her own, or with Gibson to save the love story element which belatedly comes into play halfway through the film's over-involved second act. Gibson and perhaps even co-screenwriter Bryan Helgeland's interesting mistake here is to introduce rather too many plotlines at one time, which only the superb performances of those involved in them stop us the audience getting confused by and bored with them.

It might be argued that the film relies slightly too much on Gibson, essentially doing a psycho Philip Marlowe riff on his Mad Max persona. But since the film revolves around his character Porter that's kind of to be expected. However, that's no excuse for not seeing more of the likes of William Devane and James Coburn and Lucy Liu, who all turn in immensely enjoyable showboating cameos, all the more remarkable in Coburn's case, when one considers just how little screen time he actually gets and how broadly painted his character is. Essentially, this is a very good piece of commercial art, with aspirations to being the kind of movie Raoul Walsh or Howard Hawkes used to do so well in the '40s and '50s. Indeed, Helgeland, as director, gives the film a beautifully dark, haunted look, to tie in with Porter's psyche. What this actually does, though, is to make the film hark back to the likes of GET CARTER, with its brutally, almost psychopathically, portrayal of a once-great city gone to ruin and ugly neon colours.

Like Mike Hodges, Helgeland has obviously realised that sometimes the greatest beauty can be found in the most extreme ugliness.

Ultimately, though, PAYBACK is not the kind of film those who enjoyed the slick and shallow likes of BIRD ON A WIRE may want to see Mel Gibson in, as he seems determined here to destruct his movie star persona, as Bruce Willis did in TWELVE MONKEYS and THE SIXTH SENSE.

What we get here is Gibson testing himself as an actor, in much the same way as he did in THE ROAD WARRIOR and GALLIPOLI and even, arguably, in THE BOUNTY. He seems to be doing an actor's equivalent of an MTV Unplugged album - showing us his influences and revelling in them. Ultimately a slightly messy movie, PAYBACK is never less than satisfying.


Delightful and perverse experience!   February 13, 2003
4 out of 5 found this review helpful

Payback is a gritty, intense and slow-paced action movie. Mel Gibson plays Porter, a guy who will stop at nothing for his payback. The plot just seemed to get better and better with more twists as the movie progressed. Mel Gibson is great as the ruthless Porter, but equally worthy of mention are William Devane's performance as Carter, the crime boss, and Lucy Liu as a dominatrix. Incredible as the acting may be, the action scenes are very well done. The movie is of a very old style. Blue tint throughout the film with a classic soundtrack. You really have to be in the mood for this one. Overall, Payback is a very good movie, enjoyable and well worth watching.


a very enjoyable gangster flick   September 5, 2006
Rockstafarian
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

Think Lock stock crossed with Lethal weapon 4. payback is a stylish, comic gangster noir. as you may (hopefully) have gathered from the title payback is a film about Mel gibson, a gangster screwed over by two accomplises (one of them happening to be his junkie mrs) and well...not really exacting vengance but trying to reclaim the 70.000 dollars that was his share of the money that was taken from him. this film is not serious but very stylish and enjoyable.

8/10


good film with great moments   November 25, 2000
3 out of 4 found this review helpful

Payback is the type of film you can watch over and over, with friends or to just waste a bit of time. It is like this because it is not overly complicated, but still fun, and has some genuinely brilliant moments. Porter is a definite antihero, with some great one-liners. Even better when you have seen it and you watch it with someone who's never seen it, for their reactions. Not worth the full 5 stars, but still worth owning.