Back in the 60s, crime writer Donald Westlake, under the pseudonym Richard Stark, wrote the revenge thriller The Hunter, which was brilliantly filmed in 1967 by John Boorman with Lee Marvin in the lead. Boorman`s version deviated a fair bit from the book; this new version, the first film directed by screenwriter Brian Helgeland (who co-scripted L.A. CONFIDENTIAL and CONSPIRACY THEORY) is only superficially similar.Mel Gibson plays Porter, who has returned from the dead - he was shot and abandoned by his wife, (Deborah Kara Unger), and partner Val, (Gregg Henry) who betrayed him, and stole from him the proceeds of his latest robbery. He knows the money, the modest sum of $70,000, has been swallowed up by the Outfit for which Val now works - and he wants the money back - that`s all he wants, but he `s very determined... Mel Gibson is usually so eager to be liked by his audience that it`s at least refreshing to see him as a bad guy, albeit an heroic kind of bad guy, battling a crime syndicate run by wealthy men in suits. What`s rather strange about this film is the way it delves into sado masochism along with the more familiar violence. Helgeland certainly knows how to create suspense and stage action scenes, but the film leaves a rather bitter taste in the mouth...Margaret`s comments:This self-conscious would-be `noirish` film is really Rambo with pseudo style in which we`re expected to root for the bad guy, according to the movie`s tagline. I`m not madly into sadistic violence up-close, I can take it if the film`s theme justifies it - Blue Velvet, Goodfellas - but when I`m just being manipulated for cheap thrills and even cheaper laughs I get a nasty taste in my mouth. Apparently Mel Gibson and director Brian Helgeland in his directorial debut - he co-wrote LA Confidential and, let`s not forget, the original screenplay for `The Postman` - had a falling-out over the ending. I`d love to hear Helgeland`s idea of where it should have gone, possibly it wouldn`t have been the ride into the sunset for charismatic `bad guy` Gibson. Payback is full of verbal and action cliches - time heals all wounds, nice guys always finish last, old habits die hard - it`s also full of nastiness and sadism. It`s hard to recall a single scene without some element of violence. All this in a film where we`re expected to identify with a character who is only slightly less objectionable than his enemies, it`s a very fine line we`re drawing here. Payback has taken over $US46 million in three weeks. Does it make me feel better that mel Gibson`s company Icon which produced Payback will produce the next Atom Egoyan film? And has Egoyan, a filmmaker who is so intent on not exploiting audiences with his work, seen Payback? And finally does everyone`s complexion have to look bad in a pseudo-noir film? I disliked Payback intensely, passionately.
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