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A lean, nasty revenge noir with a hardboiled sense of humor and a strong anti-hero turn from Mel Gibson. It’s especially appealing if you like grimy crime stories, blunt violence, and late-90s genre filmmaking with a retro edge.
Where to watch: Buy
Fri · 1h 40m
Director: Brian Helgeland
Starring: Mel Gibson, Gregg Henry, Maria Bello
With friends like these, who needs enemies? That's the question bad guy Porter is left asking after his wife and partner steal his heist money and leave him for dead -- or so they think. Five months and an endless reservoir of bitterness later, Porter's partners and the crooked cops on his tail learn how bad payback can be.
Brian Helgeland
Mel Gibson, Gregg Henry, Maria Bello
A lean, nasty revenge noir with a hardboiled sense of humor and a strong anti-hero turn from Mel Gibson. It’s especially appealing if you like grimy crime stories, blunt violence, and late-90s genre filmmaking with a retro edge.
Payback is a mean little crime movie that knows exactly what it is: a bruising revenge thriller with a sour grin. It takes the bones of a classic hardboiled story and turns them into something blunt, funny, and relentlessly transactional, where every favor is a debt and every debt gets collected with interest.
The appeal is mostly in the attitude. Brian Helgeland keeps the pace tight, the dialogue sharp, and the world full of crooked cops, double-crosses, and low-rent predators. Mel Gibson plays Porter as a man reduced to pure spite, which gives the movie its engine even when the plot gets a little shaggy.
It’s not the most refined version of this material, and it lives in the shadow of earlier noir touchstones, but that roughness is part of the charm. If you want a grimy, old-school revenge picture with a nasty streak and a few good laughs, it delivers.
Matt! (3.5★) · 303 likes
Mel Gibson is not Lee Marvin and Payback is not Point Blank (despite being based off the same novel), but any movie that’s as violent, abrasive, and mean-spirited as this certainly qualifies as one badass revenge thriller in my book. Snappy noir-ish dialogue, gritty visuals, jet-black humor, and a “protagonist” so petty that he’s willing to literally die on a hill after being cheated out of just $70k. Those are the ingredients of a capital F Film, and I will… more
Bryan Espitia (4.5★) · 212 likes
I don't know what the current stance is on Payback, but it's pretty fucking awesome and one of the more underrated 90s action-thrillers. Mel Gibson is perfect, it's got a cool cast of character actors, a funky 70s-style score, and just the right amount sardonic edge. Plus, "expensive horizontal refreshment" might be the greatest euphemism I've ever heard.
Michael James (3.5★) · 186 likes
One gritty 90s revenge driven neo noir thriller that totally went under the radar. It is dark, violent with well placed twisted humor. The old style soundtrack and the hard boiled nature with its cold n blue tone, keep it tight solid. Mel Gibson shines his way through as the badass, while each n every character get their fair share of memorable enough scenes to score. Than the alternative cut, I prefer the theatrical one as the action loaded blast in the end suits way better.
Grooveman (4★) · 179 likes
"So go boil an egg"
19oldboy91 (4★) · 116 likes
Während den Dreharbeiten zu „Payback“ in einem Lebensmitteladen. Worauf habe ich eigentlich Hunger?„Beef Jerky“? – Nein, zu salzig und ich kenne meine Blasse. „Knabbernossi“? – Seit wann haben wir hier in Chicago „Knabbernossis“?Dann was Süßes.„Manner Schnitte“! – Arnie isst „Manner Schnitte“ und was Arnie isst, ist gut für den Körper und das Köpfchen. Hab gehört, der gute Arnie hat einen IQ von über einhundertfünfzig. – Wahnsinn der Mann, stemmt problemlos einhundertfünfzig Pfund und löst nebeneinher den Gordischen… more
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revenge, betrayal, crime underworld, corruption, anti-hero, moral decay, double-crosses, hardboiled noir
neo-noir, revenge thriller, crime drama, black comedy, gritty, hardboiled, corruption, 1990s, anti-hero