A man obsessed with conspiracy theories becomes a target after one of his theories turns out to be true. Unfortunately, in order to save himself, he has to figure out which theory it is.
Multimillionaire, Tom Mullen's beloved son is kidnapped. He cooperates at first, but then turns the tables on the kidnappers and decides to take matters into his own hands.
After a successful heist, Porter is shot by his wife and his best friend. They leave him there to die but when he recovers, he seeks revenge and wants his share of the money.
Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh pursue a former LAPD officer who uses his knowledge of police procedure and policies to steal and sell confiscated guns and ammunition to local street gangs.
With personal crises and age weighing in on them, LAPD officers Riggs and Murtaugh must contend with deadly Chinese triads that are trying to free their former leaders out of prison and onto American soil.
A former L.A. drug dealer tries to go straight but his past and his underworld connections bring him into the focus of the DEA, the Mexican feds and the Mexican drug cartels.
Director:
Robert Towne
Stars:
Mel Gibson,
Michelle Pfeiffer,
Kurt Russell
Jerry Fletcher is a man in love with a woman he observes from afar. She works for the government. Fletcher is an outspoken critic of that government. He has conspiracy theories for everything, from aliens to political assassinations. But soon, one of his theories finds itself to be accurate. But which one? Some dangerous people want him dead, and the only person he trusts is the woman he loves, but does not know.Written by
Steve Richer <sricher@sympatico.ca>
According to an interview with director Richard Donner on the DVD of Payback: Straight Up Director's Cut (2006) that he met screenwriter Brian Helgeland when he was driving at the Warner Brothers gate, and saw Brian holding a sign that said "Will write for work, for money". Richard got out of the car and asked him about the sign, Brian replied that he was a screenwriter, and was looking for work. Donner had decided to give Helgeland a chance, which led to the two of them working on this movie. Helgeland also worked with Donner on Assassins (1995). See more »
Goofs
When Jerry is driving up to his apartment in the beginning of the movie and pushes the car backwards to park on the corner, the car moves back way too easily. If the car being pushed back has an automatic transmission, the rear wheels (or the front in a front wheel drive car) would be locked, hence causing the car to skid. If the car had a manual transmission, the last driver of the car should have placed the transmission in first gear or applied the parking brake. Either way, the car would have skidded backwards. The chances of the car being left in neutral in either situation is unlikely at best, and if so, the odds of that particular car being in neutral are very high, considering the amount of cars in Manhattan. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Jerry Fletcher:
July eighth, 1979, all the fathers of Nobel Prize winners were rounded up by United Nations military units, all right, and actually forced at gunpoint to give semen samples in little plastic jars, which are now stored below Rockefeller Center underneath the ice skating rink...
See more »
Crazy Credits
The initial Warner Bros. logo with the clouds behind is shown - the camera then pulls back to show the logo as a billboard on the side of a bus. See more »
Can't Take My Eyes Off You
Written by Bob Crewe (uncredited) and Bob Gaudio (uncredited)
Produced and Performed by Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Hill appears courtesy of Ruffhouse/Columbia See more »
When you consider that Mel Gibson, the chip himself, and Julia Roberts, another classically overrated Hollywood actor, star in this movie, you have to be very wary. They both regularly produce very average movies with very average performances. This was one reason why I was a little surprised by this movie. I quite enjoyed the idea as I think most people do of a conspiracy theory, no matter how far fetched it may be.
Mel is a very capable actor, just a bitter individual who lets his emotions take control of the truth. This was one of the few recent movies he's been associated with where he has remained fairly neutral. Julia Roberts was also performing at the higher end of her acting capabilities, and because of this was not a distraction of disappointment which is so commonly a feature of her performances.
It's nothing to get excited about, but easy viewing for a quiet night in.
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When you consider that Mel Gibson, the chip himself, and Julia Roberts, another classically overrated Hollywood actor, star in this movie, you have to be very wary. They both regularly produce very average movies with very average performances. This was one reason why I was a little surprised by this movie. I quite enjoyed the idea as I think most people do of a conspiracy theory, no matter how far fetched it may be.
Mel is a very capable actor, just a bitter individual who lets his emotions take control of the truth. This was one of the few recent movies he's been associated with where he has remained fairly neutral. Julia Roberts was also performing at the higher end of her acting capabilities, and because of this was not a distraction of disappointment which is so commonly a feature of her performances.
It's nothing to get excited about, but easy viewing for a quiet night in.