Payback
1999 · Movie · 100 min. · United States
Porter (Mel Gibson) is pulled into a heist by his old friend, Val (Brian De Palma regular, Gregg Henry). As they're stealing $130,000 in laundered drug money from Chinese Triads, no one is going to call the police. Everything goes smoothly until Porter's wife, Lynn (Deborah Kara Unger), shoots Porter in the back. After Val had shown Lynn a photo of Porter in the arms of another girl (Maria Bello), the two planned the double-cross together to pay off Val's mob debts so he could return to "The Syndicate." They didn't plan well enough, though, because five months later Porter's back, a complete sociopath who wants his $70,000. Brian Helgeland, the screenwriter for L.A. Confidential and Conspiracy Theory, makes his directing debut with this adaptation of the novel The Hunter by Donald E. Westlake writing under the pseudonym, Richard Stark. The same novel served as the basis for John Boorman's Point Blank starring Lee Marvin. (Chris Gore: All Movie Guide)
Direction Brian Helgeland
Cast Mel Gibson · Gregg Henry · Maria Bello · David Paymer · James Coburn · Deborah Kara Unger · Kris Kristofferson · William Devane · Lucy Liu · John Glover · Jack Conley · Bill Duke · Kate Buddeke · Elizabeth Berridge · Kwame Amoaku · Marc Vann
Soundtrack Chris Boardman
Screenplay Brian Helgeland · Terry Hayes · Donald E. Westlake
Cinematography Ericson Core
Original title Payback
6.1
12K votes (FilmAffinity)
Available on
Add to lists
Share