"Nobody likes a monkey on their back. I had three. I was going to have to lighten the load."

Its dialogue like that that makes Payback the first great film of 1999. Everybody likes to watch jerks on screen. They walk around with a cockiness and lack of respect for anything and everyone that you can’t help but love to watch them. In this movie, I think everybody falls into this category.

Mel Gibson stars as Porter. Porter and his partner in crime Val (Gregg Henry) stole $130,000 which they were going to split until Val and Porter’s wife shot him, left him for dead, and took the whole payoff. But Porter didn’t die, and he’s back to get his $70,000 cut of the cash. Throughout the movie, Porter is chased by a Chinese gang, crooked cops, a huge crime syndicate and more.

The reason why Payback is so great is that it's pure entertainment. It plays like an Elmore Leonard novel. Every time you think that the movie is going to go downhill, it goes more and more uphill. It gets better and better with every minute. Great performances by Gibson, David Paymer and James Coburn. Co-writer/director Brian Helgeland (L.A. Confidential) wrote a snazzy script that there’s only one word to describe: Fun.

The new director's cut features a somewhat different (and still just 90 minutes long) cut of the film which I found more satisfying than the original, plus a commentary from Helgeland and four featurettes (one focusing on the differences between the theatrical cut of the film and this version).



Take off your jacket and stay awhile.