The theatrical version of “Payback”
came out in 1999, and while I enjoyed the movie, I wasn't completely
satisfied. The film is loosely based on the Richard Stark book “The
Hunter,” and loosely is the operative word. I'm a big fan of the
book, and while the movie is a decent action/crime flick, it forsakes
the noirish, amoral tone of the book in favor of a more
audience-friendly, heroic story.
It turns out director Brian Helgeland
did make a movie with the stark tone of the book, but Mel Gibson and
the studio didn't think it would sell. Helgeland was fired, new
writers were brought in, and an entirely new third act was shot, with
the overall effect being a movie more like the Lethal Weapon movies,
with explosions, one-liners, and a sympathetic hero.
In 2006, Brian Helgeland was given the
opportunity to use the original footage of “Payback” to put
together a director's cut, and man, is it awesome! Not only did
Helgeland do away with the cheesy, blue film wash of the theatrical
version, he stripped out all the lowest-common-denominator stuff that
was put in to ensure that Porter, the protagonist, would be the kind
of consistently sympathetic outlaw that audiences expected of Mel
Gibson in 1999. What's fascinating is that Helgeland has put
together, out of old footage, a movie that is perfect for modern-day,
tarnished Mel Gibson. The drunk-driving, anti-semite, mug-shot,
divorcee Gibson is finally free to play this character as Richard
Stark wrote him, amoral and ruthless.
The story starts with Porter, in
rumpled clothes, entering New York City on foot. Through a series of
small rip-offs, he gets himself some cash, some clothes, and a
weapon, and starts to hunt down the people who betrayed him. It
turns out Porter is a heist artist. He plans and executes robberies.
On his last job his partner and his wife double-crossed him,
shooting him in the back and leaving him for dead. He sets out to
even the score and get his money back, and not even the power of the
Mob can stop him.
The attraction of Porter (known as
Parker in the book series) is that in any given situation, he can be
counted on to do what makes sense. Surrounded by sadistic
sociopaths, druggies, and egomaniacs, he is always cool-headed and
rational. A character like this has a pleasant, moderating effect on
the plot of any story he appears in. He keeps the author or
screenwriter honest. And yet, in order for there to be a story at
all, we have to accept that in the big picture Porter may do
something irrational when a principle is involved. Else why go up
against the Mob for a mere $70,000?
Porter lives by a code. Someone
betrays him; he gets even. Compromise isn't part of his DNA.
Director Brian Helgeland apparently has a code as well. In 1999 he
wasn't able to make the compromises that would please the movie
studio, so in 2006 he was able to put together a crime movie of
integrity, one that is destined to be a cult classic.
4.5 stars out of 5
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