Payback (1999)

the audience applauded

Thanks for the memories!

Expected more

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Payback is cool, smart, stylized, and a badass action revenge flick with a terrific cast led by Mel. You know, I was planning here on being all cutesy to just talk about Lucy Liu the whole time but, I'm watching Payback now, and I see Lucy, and I'm watching, waiting for crazy sexy Lucy to take the hotel elevator up to the right room so she can inspire me with her dominatrix sexiness, aaaaand she walks right in and smacks the freaking crap out of that dude, and now, I feel different. She slapped the cute right out of me I think. I felt it. Ouch, uuggghh, my gut. I can't breathe. I never fully realized this about a woman before, but I would totally, totally love Lucy beating me up like that, in a sexual manner. Aahhh, okay, I got my breath back. Oh myyyyy! I love it! Lucy flaunts her butt so nice in Payback, I don't think a lot of people realize how nice it is! I'm a freak for Lucy Alexis Liu. Uugghh. Thank you Lucy, I'll have another please.

I was pleasantly surprised by this film. I wasn't expecting much but the story was good and the acting was very good. Gibson's character was interesting, brash, opinionated, and violent - a good combination, haha. Everyone likes the underdog who just bulls his way around and gets away with it. The cast was very good, they worked well with each other. I just loved seeing James Coburn and Kris Kristofferson again on the screen. One surprise was Lucy Liu - I didn't even realize it was really her until her second scene - I have never seen her in a part like that and she was actually pretty funny.Rated 8/10 for good action and the right amount of violence.

Dumb beyond belief. The characters and dialogue are so simple-minded that it's insulting. Add to that a plot that's so unfeasible, action sequences so impossible, and a preening Mel Gibson, and you have.....well, another Mel Gibson movie.I'm obviously not a Gibson fan. I find that his movies (at least since he's become a star and has more choice and control) to be intellectually void, until I'm forced to wonder if the man himself is just not particularly bright, and maybe that's why every movie of his ends up a dull-witted exercise that never exceeds a sixth-grade level of maturity. I understand that he's a Three Stooges fan and that's just about the height of the mental bar in a Gibson film (and, yes, I'm including The Passion of the Christ, which I thought was a joke). Sorry, I just can't stand the man. One positive note, or actually two, are the female leads, the beautiful Deborah Kara Unger and Maria Bello. Not only are they a comfort for the eyes but both give performances that belong in a film more worthy.

Just another Mel Gibson thriller, but it is still exciting to watch. And "Payback" is now available on NetFlix Instant Download Streaming. The director is Brian Helgeland. The writer of the novel is Donald E. Westlake, and the writer of the screenplay is Brian Helgeland. The actors include Mel Gibson, Gregg Henry, Maria Bello, David Paymer, Bill Duke, Deborah Kara Unger, John Glover, William Devane, Lucy Liu, Jack Conley, Kris Kristofferson, Mark Alfa, Kwame Amoaku, Justin Ashforth, Len Bajenski, Kate Buddeke, Price Carson, Roddy Chiong, Art Cohan, Andrew Cooper, James Deuter, Doc Duhame, David Dunard, Nathan Effron, Tom Equin and Brian Heinberg. The story of a bank robber and his encounters with the law as well a gangland. There are many twists and turns and there is also much comic relief. I gave it 8 stars. Dale Haufrect