PAYBACK

Playing the role of a morally reprehensible man named Porter, Mel Gibson leads an interesting cast in the dark, violent comedy, PAYBACK. PAYBACK is based on a novel by Richard Stark and is a remake of POINT BLANK starring the late Lee Marvin.

After a robbery job, Porter is double-crossed by his partner, Val, played by Gregg Henry, and Porter’s wife. Porter loses his share of $70,000 and nearly his life. Porter returns to get back his $70,000 at any cost. What follows is a roller coaster ride of one violent scene after another as Porter tries to catch up with Val. Along the way, Porter discovers his wife OD’d on heroin while he pulls a young man’s nose ring out, kicks, punches, & slams other men against walls and shoots people in cold blood. All of this is done in a comic vein.

During the movie, the audience learns that Val is involved in a sadistic and masochistic relationship. Both he and his girlfriend enjoy hitting, punching and whipping one another and/or watching others getting tortured. This interaction becomes a caricature. Meanwhile, Porter makes it clear that he is willing to lose his own life in order to get back his $70,000. Complicating his search is a prostitute and ex-girlfriend, played by Maria Bello.

This action-packed movie does not have much substance or depth and lacks a plausible storyline. It expects its audience to get thrills out of violent acts and cars blowing up without any purpose. Gibson stated at a recent preview of this movie that he was challenged in playing a likeable villain. Truthfully, it is surprising that he would go with a script like this one. It was more interesting to watch some of the supporting cast members, such as Kris Kristofferson, James Coburn, David Paymer, and William Devane, who did the best with the parts they were given.

The saddest part of this movie is that it has absolutely no redeeming qualities at all. None of the characters learn any moral lessons, and the movie treats getting back stolen crime money as a heroic act. When asked at the preview why he doesn’t make more family movies, Gibson pondered a bit and admitted that perhaps he should. Let’s hope so.