Payback **** (1999, Mel Gibson, Gregg Henry, Maria Bello, Deborah Kara Unger, David Paymer, Bill Duke, Kris Kristofferson, William Devane, James Coburn, John Glover, Lucy Liu, Jack Conley) – Classic Movie Review 8,398

Brian Helgeland’s 1999 neo noir crime thriller film Payback stars Mel Gibson as career thief Porter, who recovers from being double-crossed and left to die to exact revenge and get his share of a bloody heist.

Writer-director Brian Helgeland’s 1999 neo noir crime thriller Payback stars Mel Gibson as tough ex-marine Porter, a hood who is double-crossed and shot in the back by his unfaithful junkie wife Lynn (Deborah Kara Unger) and her sadistic mobster boyfriend Val Resnick (Gregg Henry), who make off with his $70,000 half share of a bloody heist stolen $140,000 from a local Chinese Triad.

They leave Porter to die but he survives and recovers to exact revenge and to get his money back – but this is a big problem since Resnick has ingratiated himself back into the protection of The Outfit, a powerful organized crime syndicate.

This rock-solid, fast-paced B-movie revenge thriller with an A-movie budget is none other than a remake of John Boorman’s 1967 masterwork Point Blank, this time including much of the explanatory detail of Richard Stark (ie Donald E Westlake)’s book The Hunter, omitted in the original. Though the plot is the same, it feels like an entirely different movie. The character is Parker in Westlake’s series of novels. Jason Statham played him in the 2013 thriller Parker, based on another book in the series.

Payback is an adult entertainment made for grown-ups, and it is tough to the point of gratuitous sadism, with some kinky sex thrown in for good measure, but it is thoroughly convincing and enjoyable. Gibson is satisfyingly cast against type and apparently enjoying himself, relishing the role as the none-too-nice anti-hero character Porter, formerly portrayed by Lee Marvin as Walker. Gibson really goes for it, arguably coming over nastier even than Marvin in Point Blank, though it is a close thing. The film might arguably be even nastier too, though there can be no argument that Point Blank is superior.

Gibson said: ‘It would’ve been ideal to shoot in black and white but people want a colour image.’ So a bleach bypass process was used to tint the film blue, and the production design used muted shades of red, brown, and grey for costumes, sets, and cars. The cinematography is by Ericson Core.

The cast

The cast are Mel Gibson as Porter, Gregg Henry as Val Resnick, Deborah Kara Unger as Lynn Porter, David Paymer as Arthur Stegman, Kris Kristofferson as Bronson, William Devane as Carter, James Coburn as Justin Fairfax, Maria Bello as Rosie, Bill Duke as Detective Hicks, John Glover as Phil, Lucy Liu (credited as ‘Lucy Alexis Liu’), Jack Conley as Detective Leary, Trevor St John as Johnny Bronson, Katrina Phillips as Teller, Freddy Rodriguez as Valet, Manu Tupou as Pawnbroker.

The film was shot from September to November 1997 in Chicago and Los Angeles and released on February 5, 1999.

Payback was a box office hit, grossing $161,626,121 worldwide, against a $50 million budget.

Payback is an R‑rated film in the US because of its strong, frequent and often graphic violence, realistic gunfire, hand‑to‑hand combat, and graphic blood. The director’s cut is marginally more intense and harsh, particularly the extended version of Porter’s controversial fight with Lynn. Both the theatrical version and the director’s‑cut are classified 18 by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) in the UK.

Helgeland clashed with Mel Gibson over Gibson’s ideas for the film, and Gibson admitted that he was instrumental in having Helgeland removed as director, although he is still credited. Substantial portions of the film were rewritten and reshot, including a different third act and a new villain played by Kris Kristofferson as Bronson. After 10 days of reshoots, a new opening scene and voiceover track were also added.

Director’s Cut

Payback runs 101 minutes and 90 minutes in the Director’s Cut. The restoration of the Director’s Cut took place in 2005. Most of the original elements of the film were not preserved, so film editor Kevin Stitt and Helgeland had to use what was preserved from the original film stock. The blue tint of the theatrical version was removed for more vivid colour tones and Helgeland asked Scott Stambler to write a new score, which was recorded in late February 2006.

Helgeland was fired from the film two days after he won his Academy Award for LA Confidential (1997) and a third of the film was re-shot, resulting in a delay of nearly year as Gibson was making Lethal Weapon 4. A script rewrite by Terry Hayes was ordered. Kris Kristofferson’s character of the main villain was added after Helgeland left. The reshoot director is uncertain, but may be production designer John Myhre or film director Paul Abascal. However, Paul Abascal has stated on his website that he directed the new scenes.

Boorman said the script reminded him of one that Lee Marvin had thrown out of his window in fury at its awfulness, and that a young Mel Gibson must have been passing by and picked it up.

The Director’s Cut premiered in October 2006 run at the Austin Film Festival, and was released on DVD, Blu-ray, and HD DVD on April 10, 2007.

Twenty years later, Gibson was back on this kind of form and in this kind of film with the 2018 Dragged Across Concrete.

American writer Donald E Westlake (July 12, 1933 – December 31, 2008) wrote his 1962 crime thriller The Hunter, his first Parker novel, under the pseudonym of Richard Stark.

So that makes four film versions of The Hunter: Point Blank, Payback, Payback: The Director’s Cut, and Play Dirty (2025).

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8,398

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com

Lee Marvin in John Boorman’s 1967 masterwork Point Blank.