Payback (film)

Infobox_Film
name = Payback

---

caption = "Payback" movie poster
imdb_id = 0120784
producer = Bruce Davey
director = Brian Helgeland
writer = Brian Helgeland
Terry Hayes
based on The Hunter by Richard Stark
starring = Mel Gibson
Gregg Henry
Maria Bello
David Paymer
Bill Duke
Lucy Liu
John Glover
William Devane
Deborah Kara Unger
Jack Conley
and Kris Kristofferson
Uncredited:
James Coburn
editing = Kevin Stitt
music = Chris Boardman
Moe Jaffe
cinematography = Ericson Core
distributor = Paramount Pictures (USA)
Warner Bros. (non-USA)
released = February 5, 1999
runtime = 100 min.
language = English
budget = $50,000,000

"Payback" is a 1999 action film starring Mel Gibson and directed by Brian Helgeland. The film shares the same source material as the 1967 noir-classic "Point Blank" (whose rights are currently owned by WB, the international distributor of "Payback", via its ownership of the pre-1986 MGM library through Turner Entertainment), directed by John Boorman and starring Lee Marvin; both are based on the book "The Hunter", written by Donald E. Westlake under the pseudonym of Richard Stark. The film was Brian Helgeland's directorial debut after a career as a screenwriter.

Plot

In a seedy basement, a man pours a glass of whiskey and sterilizes his crude surgical tools. He turns to the table, where Porter (Mel Gibson) lays severely wounded with two gunshot wounds in his back. After the removal of the rounds and several months of healing, Porter returns and begins tracking down Val (Gregg Henry), his former partner and Lynn (Deborah Kara Unger), his ex-wife, both of whom betrayed Porter and left him for dead following a $140,000 heist from the Chinese Triads. Soon enough he is healed and armed, and sets out with the intent on reclaiming his $70,000 cut of the heist.

Following his betrayal of Porter, Val rejoined the Outfit, a powerful criminal organization based in Chicago, using $130,000 of the heist money to repay an outstanding debt to Carter (William Devane) a mobster director of the Outfit. To get his share of the money back, Porter is forced to deal with his former employer Val, the Outfit, the Chinese Triads now under the leadership of a dominatrix, named Pearl (Lucy Liu), and two corrupt police officers, Hicks (Bill Duke) and Leary (Jack Conley) who want his share of the money to pay off large gambling debts to their loan shark. Porter enlists the help of a call girl, Rosie (Maria Bello), who is affiliated with the Outfit. Prior to the events depicted at the beginning of the film, Porter served as a limousine driver for Rosie, during which time they developed a close, romantic friendship, which ultimately was the reason behind Porter's wife conspiring against him. Eventually, Porter confronts his wife, Lynn, who commits suicide by taking an overdose of heroin.

Following several unsuccessful attempts to reclaim his $70,000 share of the original heist from the Outfit, Porter murders Carter when he refuses to negotiate with him over the money. Porter also gets his revenge when he murders Val, and then frames Hicks and Leary for Val's murder. Porter then kidnaps the son of the head of the crime syndicate, Bronson (Kris Kristoferson), in order to force the Outfit to hand him the $70,000. By now the two top surviving figures of the Outfit, Bronson and Fairfax (James Coburn), join the hunt to take him down. Eventually Porter himself is kidnapped by thugs from the Outfit after a wild chain of events involving the Triads when Pearl and her men suddenly appear and make one final attempt to kill Porter, only to have Porter desimate her hit squad in a shoot-out, but leaving her unharmed and beside herself. Brutally tortured by Bronson and Fairfax's men, Porter tells them where Bronson's son is being held. Eventually, Porter lures them to his apartment that had previously been rigged to a phone connected to dynamite by Carter's hit men. Using a slick ruse, Porter directs the Outfit members to the apartment where they meet their explosive demise. Having reaquired the money that Bronson agreed to pay him (but in Val's amount of $130,000, not the $70,000), Porter reunites with Rosie (and her dog, also named Porter) and after leaving behind Bronson's son, still handcuffed to a radiator in a hotel room, Porter and Rosie drive off into the early morning sun to begin a new life elsewhere.

Production

Although credited as director, Brian Helgeland's cut of the film isn't the final version released to audiences. After the end of principal photography, Helgeland's version was deemed too dark for the mainstream public. Following a script rewrite by Terry Hayes, director Helgeland was replaced by the uncredited Paul Abascal, [cite web|url=http://www.paulabascal.com/film.html|title=Paul Abascal: Film] who reshot 30% of the movie. [cite web|url=http://www.chud.com/articles/articles/9626/1/EXCLUSIVE-INTERVIEW-BRIAN-HELGELAND-PAYBACK-DIRECTORS-CUT-DVD/Page1.html|title=Exclusive interview: Brian Helgeland by Devin Faraci, April 6, 2007] The intent was to make the Porter character accessible, to excise the potentially controversial scene of spousal abuse, and add more plot elements to the third act. After 10 days of reshoots, a new opening scene and voiceover track were added, and Kris Kristofferson walked on as a new villain.cite web | url = http://dvdspindoctor.typepad.com/dvd_spin_doctor/2007/04/mel_gibsons_los.html | title = DVD Spin Doctor - Mel Gibson's lost kick-ass film] Helgeland's version, "Straight Up: The Director's Cut", was released on DVD, Blu-Ray, and HD DVD on April 10, 2007.

Cast

*Mel Gibson as Porter
*Gregg Henry as Val Resnick
*Maria Bello as Rosie
*Lucy Alexis Liu as Pearl
*Deborah Kara Unger as Mrs. Lynn Porter
*David Paymer as Arthur Stegman
*Bill Duke as Detective Hicks
*Jack Conley as Detective Leary
*John Glover as Phil
*William Devane as Carter
*James Coburn as Fairfax
*Kris Kristofferson as Bronson

"Straight Up: The Director's Cut"

In 2005, Paramount allowed Helgeland to re-edit the movie. However, the tapes from the original production are missing and he was limited to material available on film. The final result is a much darker film.

Some changes to the director's cut include:
* Removal of Porter's voice-over
* Rosie's dog (also named Porter) does not survive after being shot by Val Resnick
* Majority of blue tint was removed and replaced with hyper-saturation
* Director's commentary
* Interview of Donald E. Westlake
* Documentary of the film's history
* A new score was written and recorded by Scott Stambler
* An alternate ending

References

External links

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Box Office Leaders USA
before = She's All That
date = February 7
year = 1999
after = Message in a Bottle