Payback (1999)

★★★
Payback is a movie with many twists, intersecting plot threads, characters that exit unexpectedly and a protagonist who lives up to the tagline “Get Read to Root for the Bad Guy.” Mel Gibson bulldozes through all of this with a fierce determination, motivated by a relatively small amount of cash that baffles his enemies. A more recent movie character, John Wick, went to war over the killing of his dog. That Mel Gibson’s Porter would take on the city’s Outfit over what began as a personal matter is perfectly in line with that kind of story. Take a character and show him commit a disproportionate amount of vengeance against his offenders, and you’re in for a wild ride. Payback would make for a good triple feature along with John Wick and Denzel Washington’s The Equalizer.

Porter is a professional criminal. His partner Val (Gregg Henry) and wife Lynn (Deborah Kara Unger) double-cross him and steal his share of a heist, worth $70,000. They leave him for dead but he recovers thanks to a disreputable but effective doctor. Five months later he returns to get his money. He meets up with Lynn, now a heroin addict, and the trail eventually leads back to Val, who used the money to pay off a debt to the Outfit. Val’s employers get dragged into Porter’s quest for revenge and soon a number of secondary players enter the picture, from a small-time drug dealer named Stegman (David Paymer) all the way up to Outfit boss Bronson (Kris Kristofferson). Throw in crooked cops and the original owners of that money, led by an S&M hooker (Lucy Liu), and what plays out before us is a perfect storm of action and comedy, with the serious Porter at the center of the hurricane.

On Porter’s side is another hooker named Rosie (Maria Bello), the only one he can trust. There is a moment in her apartment when she witnesses a killing. She is stunned. Though she has her foot in the door of the underground, there is still much she hasn’t seen. Porter gets it. He consoles her. Bello’s acting in this scene is spot on. She provides the perfect contrast to Porter’s toughness. He’s seen it all and is unfazed. He proceeds through the movie like a wrecking ball, yet dials it down for a moment. It’s a terrific scene.

Brian Helgeland, the writer and director, had an up and down career before Payback, but his overall resumé is impressive. He achieved fame with his screenplay for L.A. Confidential but took a wrong turn with The Postman. This was his first directorial effort, and he shows a firm control over the action. Though this is mainly an action movie, the acting cannot be dismissed. Porter interacts with all sorts of characters who stand between him and his money, many of them he has never met and unfamiliar with the resources they have at their disposal. Nevertheless, he negotiates these obstacles flawlessly. Even in a moment of weakness, when he is at the mercy of Bronson, Porter remains in control. Mel Gibson infuses Porter with a confidence that comes across as natural. He brings some of the same qualities of his Martin Riggs character from the Lethal Weapon movies and repackages them to fit into a cunning crook. Riggs/Porter are wild and unconventional, but their methods work.

Payback delivers the goods. It has a main character who’s rough around the edges and villains who regard Porter as a pest until he ups the ante and proves how serious he is about claiming his $70K. It was based on the novel “The Hunter” by Donald Westlake. Porter (named Parker in the book) is a fascinating character who could have appeared in a few more movies (there were 24 books in the series to mine for story ideas). Alas, Mel Gibson’s turn as Porter began and ended here, with no sequel to follow him on his next heist. It’s just as well. Payback sends Porter off with a fitting finale, so we can just be happy he made an appearance this one time.

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