Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pagePayback (1998)
Director: Brian Helgeland
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Porter (Gibson) is the sort of guy who'll steal the notes from a blind beggar. Ripped off in a heist and left for dead by his wife and best friend, he's not about to take such treachery lying down. Director/co-writer Helgeland had a hand in LA Confidential, so there's a certain amount of pedigree here (the source novel is Richard Stark's The Hunter, previously filmed by John Boorman as Point Blank). Helgeland also co-scripted Mel Gibson's Conspiracy Theory, a paranoia thriller in the 1970s mode - but with a happy ending. Though there are no explicit date references, Payback is styled as a '70s movie manqué: dial phones and chunky automobiles; desaturated colour palette; funky soul/jazz score. The conceit even extends to the supporting roles, with such veterans as Kristofferson, Devane and Coburn representing 'the Outfit'. Sadly, it doesn't have the courage of its convictions. Where even a fair-to-middling '70s thriller like Hustle took its nihilism straight, this feels like a put-on.Author: TCh
Cast & crew
Director: Brian Helgeland
Producer: Bruce Davey
Cast: Mel Gibson, Maria Bello, Kris Kristofferson, William Devane, James Coburn, David Paymer, Deborah Kara Unger full cast
Genre(s): Thrillers
Duration: 101 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Review: Penélope Cruz more raunchy than ever in 'Nine'
Dave Calhoun reports on Rob Marshall's Oscar-touted musical with Daniel Day-Lewis playing a troubled director
Time Out's 101 Films of the Decade
Ten years, thousands of movies and millions of dollars in international box office, and it all boils down to this
Jim Jarmusch on 'The Limits of Control'
Jim Jarmusch has followed ‘Broken Flowers’ with an esoteric crime mystery. Dave Calhoun speaks to him from his New York office
Richard Linklater on 'Me and Orson Welles'
Dave Calhoun meets the 49-year-old, Houston-born filmmaker Richard Linklater to discuss his new comedy
Our verdict on Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson ends a triumphant decade with a sentimental misfire with this lush Alice Sebold adaptation
On the set of Ken Loach's 'Route Irish'
Dave Calhoun meets Ken Loach on the set of his forthcoming Iraq war movie
Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?
How does a film go from DIY experiment to box-office smash? 'Paranormal Activity' director Oren Peli explains
A gateway to all things 'New Moon'
In anticipation of 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon', Time Out is offering the chance to pick up a limited edition pack with three exclusive magazines and a free poster.
The films that deserve a TV spin-off
With Roland Emmerich suggesting he'd like to make a '2012' TV spin-off, we propose some more movie-to-TV serialisations
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations
What do you think?
Post your review now