IMDb > Payback (1999/I)
Payback
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Payback (1999/I) More at IMDbPro »

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Payback (1999) -- Trailerfan.com - Trailer (Flash)
Payback (1999) -- Clip: Hey Porter

Overview

User Rating:
6.9/10   40,778 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 17% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
Donald E. Westlake (novel)
Brian Helgeland (screenplay) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for Payback on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
5 February 1999 (USA) more
Genre:
Tagline:
No More Mr. Nice Guy more
Plot:
Porter is shot by his wife and best friend and is left to die. When he survives he plots revenge. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
2 wins & 2 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(19 articles)
Payback is making a comeback
 (From The Guardian - Film News. 20 November 2009, 4:15 PM, PST)

Angelina Jolie in New Teaser Trailer as Agent Salt
 (From Screen Rant. 4 November 2009, 5:42 PM, PST)

User Comments:
nasty. twisted. violent. Excellent. more (356 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Mel Gibson ... Porter

Gregg Henry ... Val Resnick

Maria Bello ... Rosie

David Paymer ... Arthur Stegman
Bill Duke ... Det. Hicks

Deborah Kara Unger ... Mrs. Lynn Porter
John Glover ... Phil

William Devane ... Carter

Lucy Liu ... Pearl (as Lucy Alexis Liu)
Jack Conley ... Det. Leary

Kris Kristofferson ... Bronson
Mark Alfa ... Johnny's Friend #2
Kwame Amoaku ... Radioman

Justin Ashforth ... Michael, Bartender #1
Len Bajenski ... Fairfax Bodyguard #1
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Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Also Known As:
Porter (USA) (working title)
more
MPAA:
Rated R for strong violence, language, and drug and sexual content.
Runtime:
100 min | USA:90 min (director's cut)
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Filming Locations:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
For release in Australia, the U.S. tagline "Get ready to root for the bad guy" was changed to "Get ready to CHEER for the bad guy" because, as Mel Gibson himself pointed out, in Australia "to root" is slang for "to have sexual intercourse". more
Goofs:
Continuity: The money porter puts on the bar when talking to the bartender disappears when the phone is placed on the bar. more
Quotes:
[first lines]
Porter: [voiceover] GSW: that's what the hospitals call it: gunshot wound. Doctor has to report it to the police. That makes it hard for guys in my line to get what I call, quality health care.
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Max Payne (2001) (VG) more
Soundtrack:
Luck Be a Lady more

FAQ

What is the difference between the director's cut and the original cut?
What are the differences between the Theatrical Version and the Director's Cut?
more
74 out of 77 people found the following comment useful.
nasty. twisted. violent. Excellent., 7 May 1999
Author: Motoko from London, England

How much is $70,000 worth to you? I'm sure that right now 70 grand would come in real handy. But is it worth numerous beatings, getting shot, being run over and having your toes mashed by a hammer? It is to Porter.

I'm sure you're aware of the plot to this film (vengence, old flames and mucho violence) but that barely scratches the surface of this brilliant little noir. Whilst the story is basic the nuts and bolts used to make it are complex, twisting and not quite what you expect. For a start there are the characters. No good guys. Not one. Porter is a criminal. He's not even a particularly nice one. He's a killer, a thief, a thug, a gambler, a cheater, a liar and I bet he doesn't even pay his taxes. Likewise everybody else. Sadists, murderers, corrupt cops, drug dealers, gang members, mobsters, hookers. They're all here in their various shades of bad.

The success of this film relies on two people: Gibson and screenwriter/director Brian Helgeland. With the lead gleefully playing against his nice guy image Porter is as nasty as they come but still retains such charm and Gibsons trademark grin that not for one moment do you dislike him. He's cool in a way that Bruce Willis' Jackal never was. He quietly slipped across continents with hi-tech equipment in various guises waiting for his moment. Porter just walks into the hoods house with nothing but a revolver and asks for his money back. A lot of the comments I've read say that Porter is mean. He isn't. He'll just do what it takes to get his money back. He has nothing to loose so why not do it anyway. Porter is who Riggs would be if he'd never met Murtaugh. Out of control, against massive odds but just crazy enough not to give a damn.

Helgeland shows real talent as a director in his first time outing. As a scriptwriter he's always been in the upper classes with a talent for mixing unrepentant violence with uneasy humour. Here he shows he can tell a damn good story along with writing it. Nothing happens the way it's supposed to. We're used to good guys threatening to kill but always really bluffing. Porter isn't. He'll ask for what he wants, he doesn't get it, BANG, you're dead. People die at the wrong time too. Characters that are supposed to last until the end die in the middle while minors that only just arrive survive only to get whacked by the finish anyway. The motivation is all wrong as well. 70,000 is chump change to these people. The mobsters are wearing suits worth more than that. But Porter wants that and nothing more. He spends most of the film correcting people who think he's after more.

While based on the same source material as Point Blank, Payback is nothing like it stylistically. The first used understated violence. Payback goes for the jugular and rips it out with copious amounts of rheseus negative. It's hard to see this film working without this combo of star and director. If you had, say Sylvester Stallone or Nicolas Cage and Richard Donner or Joel Schumacher in charge you'd just have a bunch of nasty people doing nasty things with none of the ghoulishly comic touches that make Porter cool. Be thankful it's the combination it is and then go and see it. If you like thrillers you'll love this.

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Payback (1999/I)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
A question about the directors cut cohart
Straight Up, what the %§$%§ goldfinger-12
Why is James Coburn uncredited? razorblade42069
Why was he fired from Payback??? ronin1138
love this movie but Mel ruined it for me. jimmyolsenblues
If a Payback video game was made,what would you like it to feature ? TJensen0022
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