Payback (1999) 2 stars out of 4. Starring Mel Gibson.
A bit of the sadist is needed to really appreciate Payback. Mel Gibson's latest movie is filled with unlikable people, most of whom come to gruesome ends.
And when they are dispatched, you'll probably grin or laugh. Yea, Payback is a movie for those people who get their entertainment from watching those police or secret surveillance programs that Fox airs.
Payback is for those of us who slow down and gape at an accident scene, secretly hoping we catch a glimpse of a mangled body.
In its own sick way, Payback has some cartoonish-like charm, and that is mostly because of Gibson.
Here he plays Porter, a bad guy, a professional robber who, with his friend, Val (Gregg Henry), steals $130,000 from some Chinese Mafia types.
Only Val double-crosses Porter, taking his wife and all the money and leaving Porter for dead.
Like most Gibson characters, Porter is like that Eveready bunny - he takes a lickin' but keeps on tickin'. Porter recovers from his gunshot wounds and goes after Val, but not for revenge. He only wants his cut of the loot - $70,000.
To get his money, Porter takes on the Outfit, a crime organization that Val used the $130,000 to pay off as a sort of entrance fee.
Porter, then, keeps climbing the Outfit's chain of command, leaving bodies in his wake, as he tries to secure what he believes is rightfully his.
Heck, you gotta admire the man's persistence.
Payback is a bloody, ultraviolent feature with no likable characters. Even the cops are corrupt, waiting for Porter to make his score so they can take the money from him.
But the script by Brian Helgeland (L.A. Confidential) and Terry Hayes, based on the novel The Hunter by Richard Stark, keeps you riveted. There's no let-up in the action as Porter moves from person to person like some unyielding, unstoppable force of nature.
And if the plot sounds familiar, it's because it was adapted for film in the late 1960s' as Point Blank, starring Lee Marvin and directed by John Boorman.
Helgeland, making his directorial debut, seems to get some glee in sleaze and S&M. Val, for instance, is savagely beaten by Pearl (Lucy Liu), a dominatrix with a mean right and a taste for blood.
Porter is tortured by having some of his toes slammed by a sledge hammer.
Helgeland isn't so foolish as to show the toes actually being struck, but you hear the sounds of bones crunching. And that's enough to make an impact.
As Porter, Gibson shows the dark side that's underneath some of his more heroic characters such as his Lethal Weapon's Martin Riggs. Gibson goes through the entire film with a scowl on his face as if he swallowed a stale burrito.
Henry makes his appearance felt as the conniving Val, while William Devane, James Coburn and Kris Kristofferson are featured as the higher-ups of the Outfit.
Maria Bello, best known for her role on TV's E.R.. plays Porter's love interest, the stereotyped hooker with a heart of gold.
Payback is definitely not a date flick. It's mean, dirty, ultra-violent and devilishly fun. But you may feel a twinge of guilt afterward.
Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, Ind. He can be reached by e-mail at bloom@journal-courier.com or at cbloom@iquest.net
cb
Carol Bloom of Bloom Ink Publishing Professionals 3312 Indian Rock Lane West Lafayette, IN 47906-1203 765-497-9320 fax 765-497-3112 cbloom@iquest.net
Committed to Lifelong Learning through Effective Communication
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