Max Payne (2008)

Coming together to solve a series of murders in New York City are a police detective whose family was slain as part of a conspiracy and an assassin out to avenge her sister's death. The duo will be hunted by the police, the mob, and a ruthless corporation.

Director:

John Moore

Writers:

Beau Thorne (screenplay), Sam Lake (video game by Remedy Entertainment and 3-D Realms Entertainment)

Stars:

Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, Beau Bridges

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mark Wahlberg	...	Max Payne
Mila Kunis	...	Mona Sax
Beau Bridges	...	BB Hensley
Ludacris	...	Jim Bravura (as Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges)
Chris O'Donnell	...	Jason Colvin
Donal Logue	...	Alex Balder
Amaury Nolasco	...	Jack Lupino
Kate Burton	...	Nicole Horne
Olga Kurylenko	...	Natasha
Rothaford Gray	...	Joe Salle
Joel Gordon	...	Owen Green
Jamie Hector	...	Lincoln Deneuf
Andrew Friedman	...	Trevor
Marianthi Evans	...	Michelle Payne
Nelly Furtado	...	Christa Balder

Storyline

Three years ago, NYPD detective Max Payne's wife and baby were murdered. Max gets himself transferred to the cold case office where he can continue searching for the killer who got away. He's a loner, but two people reach out to him during a fateful week: Alex, his ex-partner who may have found a clue, and BB, the security chief at the pharmaceutical company where Max's wife worked. Meanwhile, bodies are piling up, some as a result of a drug on the street that is highly addictive and, for many who take it, brings hideous hallucinations. When one of the bodies is a woman Payne was the last to see alive, her sister comes looking for him armed to the teeth; Max must move fast.

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Plot Keywords:

hallucination | new york city | drug | police detective | ex partner | 

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for violence including intense shooting sequences, drug content, some sexuality and brief strong language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [jp] Twentieth Century Fox [fr]

Country:

Canada USA

Language:

English Russian Spanish

Release Date:

17 October 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Maks Pejn

Filming Locations:

Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$35,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£1,004,995 (UK) (14 November 2008)

Gross:

$40,687,294 (USA) (9 January 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Abandon Entertainment, Collision Entertainment, Depth Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min 103 min (unrated)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Max keeps most of the stuff from his old house in a shipping container at a place called Gognitti's Self-Storage. The place is named after mafia lieutenant Vinnie Gognitti, one of the video game's minor villains.

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Goofs

One of my favorite things to catch...When Natasha is being chased down the alley, she is no longer wearing high heeled, thigh high boots. If you take a look, you'll notice that the heels are gone and the boots are flat soled. Obviously, to make it easier for the actress to safely run.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Max Payne: I don't believe in heaven. I believe in pain. I believe in fear. I believe in death.

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Crazy Credits

Stay watching after the credits for an extra scene, in which Max is reunited with Mona at a bar to be shown further developments involving Aesir, implying both have more to do (setting the scene for a possible sequel).

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Connections

Featured in Hollywood's Top Ten: Game On! (2010)

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Soundtracks

"Oscar 1208"
Written by Paul Stoney & Stephen French
Performed by Metsuo

User Reviews

How do you have this bad of a script?

Max Payne was a game that was born of Film Noir and John Woo. This movie? Voice overs = 1 or two. (There was hope in the opening but then nothing) Action scenes = minimal. (Not too bad other than being sparse) Acting = very good for what little the script offers. (The actors do not deserve the blame for this atrocity unless it is for choosing to do this script.) Scenery/Cinematography = Brilliant but wasted on scenes like 8 minutes picking up a folder with no conflict in the scene. (The scenery was impressively accurate to the game. I kept feeling like it was going to get better because of it. Then nothing would happen.)

I wanted this to be good. I kept lying to myself and saying it would get better any minute.

People who say I am disappointed because it isn't the video game need to understand I didn't want the video game I wanted an action film that captured the essence of the game.

We are left with no reason to care for Max Payne. If I was the writer I would have been ashamed to have my name attached.

Max Payne got the Indy treatment.

I really want my money back on this one. I felt insulted that they thought this script was a passable story.