MR. PAYBACK
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1995 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 1.0
U.S. Availability: limited release on 2/17/95 (22 markets) Running Length: 0:20 MPAA Classification: PG-13 (Violence, language, sexual Innuendo)
Starring: Billy Warlock, Holly Fields, Bruce McGill, Christopher Lloyd,
Leslie Easterbrook
Director: Bob Gale
Producer: Jeremiah Samuels
Screenplay: Bob Gale
Cinematography: Denis Maloney
Music: Michael Tavera
Released by Interfilm Technologies
"In all, the filmmaker shot 115 minutes of interlocking scenes to cover all the possibilities of [MR. PAYBACK]; just 20 minutes make it on screen. It costs about $85,000 to outfit a theater with the Interfilm system, which includes 100 pistol grips and, in the projection booth, four video disk players driven by a PC with a 486-series microprocessor and specially designed circuit boards. A viewer would have to see this film 25 to 30 times before it became repetitive." - Press release information on MR. PAYBACK
MR. PAYBACK, billed as "the world's first interactive movie", is part motion picture, part video game, and all gimmick. Roughly once every sixty seconds during the twenty-odd minute running length, the audience is given a chance to vote for one of three options displayed on-screen. Majority rules, determining how the story will progress. It's like the cinematic version of a "choose your own adventure" book.
The short film is about the length of an average TV sitcom. Unfortunately, the intelligence level isn't much higher. If not for the novelty of pushing the buttons on the joystick, this would easily be one of the worst theatrical experiences of the year. It's juvenile, poorly acted, and the script seems aimed at the average thirteen-year old, hormone-crazed male.
Shot on video and projected via laserdisk players, MR. PAYBACK is technically inferior to most low-budget pictures. Colors are oversaturated, glare is noticeable, and the image is frequently blurred. The audio is loud, but little more can be said in its defense. Michael Tavera's score sounds as cheap and shoddy as the entire production appears.
The premise is relatively simple: Mr. Payback (Billy Warlock) is a bionic Internet lurker who comes to the defense of the downtrodden. Aided by his perky assistant Gwen (Holly Fields), he helps victims obtain justice and revenge against their wrongdoers. Depending on which buttons are pushed, those could be James Konklin (Bruce McGill), Ed Jarvis (Christopher Lloyd), or Diane Wyatt (Leslie Easterbrook). Along the way, there are senseless cameos from the likes of Cheech Marin, Robert Englund, Paul Anka, and Frank Gorshin.
One or two jokes work, but that's a poor payoff even for something this short. As a movie, MR. PAYBACK is next-to-worthless. As the introduction of a new form of entertainment, it's scarcely more impressive. After this viewing, it's my opinion that "interactive" movies should die a quick death, going the way of "smell-o-vision". Perhaps the experience would have been more palatable had I been drunk. That's the only way I can imagine getting anything worthwhile out of this.
-James Berardinelli (jberardinell@delphi.com)
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