PAYBACK A film review by Steve Rhodes Copyright 1999 Steve Rhodes RATING (0 TO ****): ***
Like the Energizer bunny, Mel Gibson, as usual, gets beaten to a pulp, but, with blood flowing everywhere, he just keeps on going and going in PAYBACK, a smart new thriller by director Brian Helgeland, the screenwriter for L.A. CONFIDENTIAL.
As a crook known only as Porter, Mel gives a tough but controlled performance. Porter will surprise you with unexpected actions and reactions, but this time Mel never overacts or tries to be too cute as he frequently does in his LETHAL WEAPON series. With this restraint comes the most empathetic acting he has done since RANSOM.
As we meet Porter, he's near death. On a dirty kitchen table, an "doctor" is operating on him. Pouring cheap whiskey over Porter's back as an antiseptic, the doctor extracts slugs from Porter's back. The story concerns Porter's attempt to get back his share the loot from a robbery, $70,000 to be precise, and he insists on being very precise. The running joke in the movie is that everyone assumes he wants the heist's entire take, $130,000, since no one would go through as much grief as he does just to recover his $70,000 share.
Written by Helgeland and DEAD CALM's Terry Hayes, the movie has the crisp dialog of a good, old detective movie. "Good guys are nice," Porter tells us in a raspy voice-over. "You always have to have someone to take advantage of. But they always finish last."
Cinematographer Ericson Core provides the film's stunning look. Core, whose work was one of the few good parts of the film 187 from two years ago, gives the images a grimy, seedy look. The colors have been washed out so that only the blues remain. The browns and flesh tones appear to have been added back in, and shadows bathe every scene. Chris Boardman's moody, mysterious music adds to the movie's heavy atmospherics.
PAYBACK, which has a definite L.A. CONFIDENTIAL feel, creates a sleazy world of low-rent hoods, flashy big time "syndicate" criminals, drug dealers, crooked cops and kinky prostitutes. The screenplay takes simple setups, like a robbery "hit," and finds ingenious ways to stage them.
The secret of the movie is the depth of the supporting cast, and the way the intelligent script is able to make each stand out. Gregg Henry plays Val Resnick, Porter's partner and nemesis. Val's a blonde-headed wild man, who has many weaknesses, not the least of which is his proclivity for violent sex. Lucy Alexis Liu, from the television series "Ally McBeal," plays a comically tough prostitute named Pearl, who's more than a match for Val.
Best of all the supporting cast are the higher-ups in the syndicate, played in delicious, small parts by James Coburn, William Devane and Kris Kristofferson. Although totally absent of morals, they live their respectable, normal lives as if they were investment bankers. But don't cross them, or they will shoot you -- or worse.
Like a roller coaster, in which the riders delight in screaming down every precipitous fall, PAYBACK loves to make the audience grimace. Porter will get or give a dose of instant pain as the audience collectively cries out and then falls silent waiting in silent, subconscious anticipation for the next big drop -- exhausting but fun.
PAYBACK runs 1:44. It is rated R for strong violence, profanity, drug use and sexuality and would be fine for older teenagers.
Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com Web: www.InternetReviews.com
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