PAYBACK RATING: 7.5 / 10 --> Re-watchable
For more reviews and movie trivia, visit http://www.joblo.com/
Mel Gibson switches costumes with the "bad guy" role, and stars in the directorial debut of the 1997 Oscar winner for Best Screenplay for L.A. CONFIDENTIAL (7/10), Brian Helgeland. This film is a remake of John Boorman's 1967 film POINT BLANK, starring Lee Marvin and Angie Dickinson. Both scripts were based on the novel by Donald E. Westlake (as Richard Stark) called "The Hunter".
PLOT: Porter is a two-bit robber who gets fudged over by his partner and girl. They take $70,000 from him, and leave him for dead. Having survived, Porter wants his money back, and is willing to go through anybody to get it, including the prominent crime syndicate ("outfit" if you like), that ultimately pocketed the cash from his ex-partner.
CRITIQUE: Grimy, violent, funny, smoke-filled tribute to bad guys from vintage movies, this film features another captivating performance by Mel Gibson, in a radically different role for him, an entertaining story, a distinct finger-snapping musical score, and an overall fun guy-time at the movies! Will women like this film? Not sure. I guess it would depend on their particular taste in film, but I trust that most raw-meat-eating-cigarette-butt-smoking-cops-and-robbers-loving fellas are gonna dig on this movie like they do a double-cheeseburger with bacon, mayo and spit after a few days of nutritional abstinence. I liked this movie because it was simple-- the man just wants to get his money back, violent-- a few tense moments are sprinkled around this movie, and quite humorous-many chuckles were heard during the film's funnier twinklings.
The pacing of the movie was also perfectly set, with an original style from Helgeland, a witty script, and a thump-thumping score, that reminded me of the film-noir flicks of the old. The actors were all very good in their roles with many of the secondary characters coming up with wickedly engaging performances, most specifically Gregg Henry as Gibson's ex-partner and future nemesis. The movie also contains some shocking and unexpected moments, a solid if fluffy ending, and some great tunes tossed in for an extra-crispy flavour on the outside. And for all those who might complain about the fact that the whole film is essentially filled with "bad people", none of whom have any redeeming qualities, I must heartily disagree. Within the context of their "world", this film has many characters who strive for power, while others fight for the "principle of the matter". Now if you've ever fought for a principle in any matter, whether it be for a grade in school which you deemed unfair, a police officer who pulled you over for a bogus ticket, or a partner who stole $70,000 from you, you should be able to appreciate Gibson's character within the seedy, underground world in which he resides.
This movie's tagline totes the "Get ready to root for the bad guy" motto, and as much as I hate those damn marketing plugs and the word "root", I must admit that I did find myself engulfed in the world of this guy Porter, wishing that he would keep kicking mighty ass, slicing the cheese over the "even worse guys", and chain-smoking and outsmarting folks like it was going out of style. Hubba-hubba-hubba indeed !!!
Little Known Facts about this film and its stars:
This film was heavily re-shot in early 1998 at the request of Mel Gibson,
whose Icon Productions produced the movie. This was due to concerns that the
original version, shot in the summer of 1997 by writer-director Brian
Helgeland, hadn't tested well. Word on the street claims that Gibson was
advised to re-shoot sections of the film by friend and action maestro Joel
Silver, producer of Gibson's LETHAL WEAPON films. Anyway, Helgeland resigned
from the picture rather than shoot the new scenes, which were requested by
Gibson and written by co-screenwriter Terry Hayes. Gibson then hired an
unidentified hack to direct the extra footage, or roughly 30 percent of the
final cut.
So what are the reshot scenes?
Mel Gibson's dad, Hutton Gibson, moved the family from upstate NY to Sydney, Australia in 1968 after winning as a contestant on TV's "Jeopardy" game show. His brother Donald Gibson is also an actor. His sporadic repertoire of film credits includes three of his more popular brother's films: CONSPIRACY THEORY, BRAVEHEART and MAVERICK. Mel is about to have his 7th child with his wife since 1980, Robyn Moore. He is a devout, traditional Catholic. Three of director Brian Helgeland's screenplays made their way to the big screen in 1997. THE POSTMAN starring Kevin Costner, L.A. CONFIDENTIAL starring Russell Crowe and Kevin Spacey, and CONSPIRACY THEORY (5/10) with Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts. The man who plays the black cop in this movie is actor Bill Duke. You may remember him from his roles in early Arnold Schwarzenegger films like COMMANDO (7.5/10) and PREDATOR (8/10). He is also a director in his own right, having filmed such films as SISTER ACT 2 and 1997's HOODLUM. This filmed was tentatively titled PARKER before the name change. Novelist Donald E. Westlake, whose book this movie is based on, has written several screenplays including 1987's THE STEPFATHER (7.5/10) and 1990's THE GRIFTERS (6.5/10). Co-screenwriter Terry Hayes has also written Mel Gibson films before. He was the man who penned MAD MAX 2 and MAD MAX BEYOND THUNDERDOME. Actress Maria Bello is better known for her role as Dr. Anna DelAmico on television's drama show "ER". Her role was solidified on the show after a guest appearance on the final three episodes of the third season, marked with good performances, convinced the producers to ask her back as a regular for the series. Actress Lucy Alexis Liu, originally from Queens, NY, graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in Asian languages and cultures while also studying acting, dance and voice. She is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and practices martial arts, including Kali-Eskrima-silat, which is knife and stick fighting. She has an ongoing role on TV's "Ally McBeal" as Ling Woo.
Review Date: February 5, 1999
Director: Brian Helgeland
Writers: Brian Helgeland and Terry Hayes
Producers: Mel Gibson and Bruce Davey
Actors: Mel Gibson as Porter
Maria Bello as Rosie
Gregg Henry as Val Resnick
Genre: Action
Year of Release: 1999
---------------------------------------
JoBlo's Movie Emporium
http://www.joblo.com
---------------------------------------
(c) 1999 Berge Garabedian
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews