Payback

United States

1999

100 Min

Color

2.35:1

English

Currently 2.8/5 Stars.
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SCR Brian Helgeland, Terry Hayes, Donald E. Westlake

CAST Mel Gibson, Gregg Henry, Maria Bello, Deborah Kara Unger, William Devane, David Paymer, Bill Duke, Lucy Liu, James Coburn, John Glover, Jack Conley, Kris Kristofferson, Freddy Rodríguez

In a seedy basement, Porter lies severely wounded with two gunshot wounds in his back from a .357 Magnum Colt Python revolver. A surgeon removes the bullets and Porter spends several months healing. He then begins tracking down Val Resnick, his former partner, and Lynn, his ex-wife, both of whom betrayed Porter and left him for dead following a $140,000 heist from the Chinese Triads. After leaving Porter for dead, Val rejoined The Outfit, a powerful criminal organization, using $130,000 of the heist money to repay an outstanding debt. Porter is intent on reclaiming his $70,000 cut.

Director

Brian Helgeland

Brian Thomas Helgeland (born January 17, 1961) is an American screenwriter, film producer and director. He is most known for writing the screenplays for L.A. Confidential (for which he received an Academy Award), Mystic River, and A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master.

Helgeland was born in Providence, Rhode Island, the son of Norwegian-born parents Karin and Thomas.His surname is Norwegian, named after a landscape in Northern Norway. A graduate of Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, he received his undergraduate degree at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.

In 1998, Helgeland won both an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay (for L.A. Confidential) and a Razzie (for The Postman) in the same year. Only one person had achieved the dubious feat before (Alan Menken in 1993), and only one other (Sandra Bullock in 2010) has achieved it since. He accepted the Razzie and became only the fourth person in its history to be personally presented with the… read more

Helgeland wrote and directed the films A Knight’s Tale (2001) and The Order (2003). He has worked with director Clint Eastwood twice, in 2002 on Blood Work, and in 2003 on Mystic River, for which he was Oscar nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay, and has also written an as of yet unproduced adaptation of Moby-Dick. In 2004, Helgeland also co-wrote the screenplay for the major motion picture The Bourne Supremacy, for which he was uncredited. In early 2008, Helgeland was attached to shape the script of the thriller Green Zone after screenwriter Tom Stoppard had to drop out, once again collaborating with director Paul Greengrass, whom he worked with on The Bourne Supremacy, as well as reuniting with actor Matt Damon, who played the Bourne trilogy’s main protagonist, Jason Bourne. Helgeland also wrote the remake of The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, starring Denzel Washington and John Travolta. The film was released on June 12, 2009. In 2009, director Richard Donner mentioned a second collaboration with writer Helgeland and actor Mel Gibson on an unnamed project, having previously all worked together on the 1997 thriller Conspiracy Theory. —Wikipedia

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Charles Ziegler-Hartmann

31Jan13

Never seen the original "Point Blank" but I look forward to it as a hopefully superior predecessor. Not that this was all terrible or anything, but anything that's usually so grisly yet compacted with a clean getaway always leaves me with an empty feeling.

HKFanatic

25Sep12

Here's one instance where the studio-sanctioned theatrical cut is arguably superior to the director's intended vision. Sure, the theatrical version might smooth over a lot of rough edges, but it gives the film some much needed wit and insight into Parker's character. You can guarantee that any movie starring James Coburn, William Devane, and Kris Kristofferson as tough guy gangsters is going to be damn entertaining.

Zach Closs and 2 others like this

Elvis Is King, Trevor Tillman

Nelson Núñez

31Oct11

Una buena película de cine negro (me refiero al Director's Cut).Tiene momentos brutales y violentos, impensables en la mayoría del cine hollywoodense más reciente (la golpiza que Porter le da a su esposa, por poner un ejemplo) Casi todos los personajes son inescrupulosos e irredimibles. Me hizo falta más humor negro y el final me resultó flojo y vulgar (esos breves flash-backs en blanco y negro). Igual la recomiendo.