Payback
Payback movie poster
Directed by	Brian Helgeland
Produced by	Bruce Davey
Written by	Brian Helgeland Terry Hayes based on The Hunter by Richard Stark
Starring	Mel Gibson Gregg Henry Maria Bello Kris Kristofferson James Coburn Lucy Liu David Paymer
Music by	Chris Boardman Moe Jaffe
Cinematography	Ericson Core
Editing by	Kevin Stitt
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures (USA) Warner Bros. (non-USA)
Release date(s)	February 5, 1999
Running time	100 min.
Language	English
Budget	$50,000,000
IMDb profile

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, 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.

Although credited as director, Helgeland's cut of the film isn't the final version released to audiences. Helgeland's version was deemed too dark for the mainstream public and he was replaced by production designer John Myhre, who reshot 30% of the movie. The intent was to make Gibson's character funnier and more accessible, as in Lethal Weapon. After 10 days of reshoots, a new third act was tacked on, voiceover track added and Kris Kristofferson walked on as a new villain.^[1] Helgeland's version, Straight Up: The Director's Cut, was released on DVD, Blu-Ray, and HD DVD on April 10, 2007.

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, his former partner and Lynn, 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, using $130,000 of the heist money to repay an outstanding debt. To get his share of the money back, Porter is forced to deal with his former employer, the Outfit, the Chinese Triads, and corrupt police officers (Duke and Conley). He 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 driver for Rosie, during which time they developed a close, romantic friendship, which ultimately was the reason behind Porter's wife conspiring against him.

Following unsuccessful attempts to reclaim his $70,000 share of the original heist from the Outfit, Porter kidnaps the son of the head of the crime syndicate. By now the two top figures of the Outfit, Fairfax and Bronson (Kris Kristoferson and James Coburn, respectively), 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. While being tortured, he lures them to an apartment that had previously been rigged to a phone connected to dynamite. Using a slick ruse, Porter directs the Outfit members to the apartment where they meet their explosive demise, and he and Rosie (and her dog, also named Porter) drive off into the early morning sun to begin a new life.

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 Justin 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.^[1]

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

• Payback at the Internet Movie Database
• Payback: Straight Up - The Director's Cut at the Internet Movie Database