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Payback, 1999
After a daring heist, Porter (Mel Gibson) is left for dead by his partners, friend Val (Gregg Henry) and his own wife, Lynn (Deborah Unger). After laying low for a few months to recover, Porter returns to the city with revenge on his mind. He finds a willing accomplice in acquaintance Rosie (Maria Bello), but the odds are against him as Val is now in cahoots with big time criminals.
‘
This is a by-the-numbers thriller with decent enough execution.
How do you take a movie where Lucy Liu plays some sort of extreme dominatrix and render it boring? That should be, like, impossible, right?
Everything in this movie feels just way too subdued, and that even extends to moments where a car full of surprised goons is blown up by the protagonist. It’s like you can see the pieces of a good thriller, only the volume has been turned down on it all.
One thing I learned watching this film is that Mel Gibson isn’t really someone I want to look at anymore. I see his face, and all I can think about is some mish-mash of his drunk ramble wishing sexual violence on someone (with bonus racial slurs!). So right away, I knew I wasn’t going to love the film because Gibson is the wrong kind of distracting. But even taking a step back from my distaste for the actor, I don’t think this is a very good performance. It’s an empty jumble of smirks and world-weary sighs.
The supporting cast, which is absolutely loaded with talent, doesn’t fare much better. Liu at least makes an impression, with her radically absurd sex worker who spends most of her screentime punching Val in the face. (A weird running gag of people punching anyone who interrupts their phone calls is the best part of this subplot.) Bill Duke and Jack Conley are on hand as two police officers who squeeze Porter for a share of the money. If we’re being honest here, Bill Duke’s amazing grandma glasses are doing a lot of the heavy lifting in terms of enjoyment of these characters.
Other reliable supporting actors like John Glover, Kris Kristofferson, David Paymer, and William Devane get a chunk of screentime, but no one really makes a strong impression. The cast is too large, in a way, and it all comes off as too slight. Characters are introduced and then die ten minutes later with little fanfare, and there is almost a video game sensibility to it all as Porter moves up the levels.
There’s plenty about this movie that’s fine, but nothing that really struck me as great, or even really good. Bello’s character has a cute dog. There’s a stunningly stupid scene that at least made me laugh where Porter is trying to find the son of a gangster, and said offspring decides to stand up and shout “Woo! Hey! That’s me!!!! I’m Johnny!”. Nothing in this movie is bad-bad, just bland and predictable.
There was nothing to love or hate here, just hitting the expected beats and then end credits. Oh, here’s something to hate: the movie is pale blue and looks ugly in a very late-90s way.
Payback, 1999
After a daring heist, Porter (Mel Gibson) is left for dead by his partners, friend Val (Gregg Henry) and his own wife, Lynn (Deborah Unger). After laying low for a few months to recover, Porter returns to the city with revenge on his mind. He finds a willing accomplice in acquaintance Rosie (Maria Bello), but the odds are against him as Val is now in cahoots with big time criminals.
‘
This is a by-the-numbers thriller with decent enough execution.
How do you take a movie where Lucy Liu plays some sort of extreme dominatrix and render it boring? That should be, like, impossible, right?
Everything in this movie feels just way too subdued, and that even extends to moments where a car full of surprised goons is blown up by the protagonist. It’s like you can see the pieces of a good thriller, only the volume has been turned down on it all.
One thing I learned watching this film is that Mel Gibson isn’t really someone I want to look at anymore. I see his face, and all I can think about is some mish-mash of his drunk ramble wishing sexual violence on someone (with bonus racial slurs!). So right away, I knew I wasn’t going to love the film because Gibson is the wrong kind of distracting. But even taking a step back from my distaste for the actor, I don’t think this is a very good performance. It’s an empty jumble of smirks and world-weary sighs.
The supporting cast, which is absolutely loaded with talent, doesn’t fare much better. Liu at least makes an impression, with her radically absurd sex worker who spends most of her screentime punching Val in the face. (A weird running gag of people punching anyone who interrupts their phone calls is the best part of this subplot.) Bill Duke and Jack Conley are on hand as two police officers who squeeze Porter for a share of the money. If we’re being honest here, Bill Duke’s amazing grandma glasses are doing a lot of the heavy lifting in terms of enjoyment of these characters.
Other reliable supporting actors like John Glover, Kris Kristofferson, David Paymer, and William Devane get a chunk of screentime, but no one really makes a strong impression. The cast is too large, in a way, and it all comes off as too slight. Characters are introduced and then die ten minutes later with little fanfare, and there is almost a video game sensibility to it all as Porter moves up the levels.
There’s plenty about this movie that’s fine, but nothing that really struck me as great, or even really good. Bello’s character has a cute dog. There’s a stunningly stupid scene that at least made me laugh where Porter is trying to find the son of a gangster, and said offspring decides to stand up and shout “Woo! Hey! That’s me!!!! I’m Johnny!”. Nothing in this movie is bad-bad, just bland and predictable.
There was nothing to love or hate here, just hitting the expected beats and then end credits. Oh, here’s something to hate: the movie is pale blue and looks ugly in a very late-90s way.