Rent Payback: Straight Up on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written
by: Donald E. Westlake (novel "The Hunter" as Richard Stark), Brian
Helgeland (screenplay)
Directed by: Brian Helgeland
Starring: Mel Gibson, Gregg Henry, Maria Bello, David Paymer, Bill Duke, Lucy Liu, Kris Kristofferson
Rated: Unrated [R]
Watch the trailer
Plot
After a successful heist, Porter is left for dead. Once he recovers, he seeks vengeance and his share of the money.
Verdict
This is an exercise in telling the same story slightly differently. It's most interesting when watching this against the original. It's clear why this cut was toned down; to be more accessible and add humor. That gives the first one a slight edge. This is a tale of revenge with a guy that won't stop no matter what. He's willing to risk it all to get his due. In this one, while it's ambiguous, his luck potentially runs out though we've seen him beat the odds once. The first one had a bigger ending that was a clever twist that fit better with the rest of Porter's schemes. This one fits better with the theme, a march into the lion's den as Porter ignores all danger. The first one is a better film, whether you watch this one really hinges on wanting to see how one story can be interpreted in two different ways.
It depends.
Review
This is the director's cut of Payback, released seven years later. The original movie was revised after test screenings to make it more accessible, adding humor, changing the soundtrack, and revising the third act while adding a villain. I didn't know this existed until I rewatched the original. This is one of the starkest differences between the original movie and a director's cut.
I've always wondered how two directors would develop the same script. This is the closest we get to see that as production companies don't want to release the same movie twice. Other than this, the closest example I know is The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigbey, a trilogy composed of Her, Him, Them.
From the start this is darker than the original. That one made a joke of Porter (Mel Gibson) stealing from a pan handler. This removes the joke, making him more callous. He's out for revenge, starting with his wife who shot him and double crossed him with his friend Val (Gregg Henry) stealing his money. From there he discovers Val's location, going right into the syndicate's hotel to deliver Val a message. Porter is dangerous and Val knows it. The syndicate offers some cover for Val, but none of them know just how far Porter will go. His split focus is killing Vale and getting his money. That scares Val and becomes an issue for Val's bosses.
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| Mel Gibson plays Porter |
The original movie never looked natural with the blue tint. This has a more normal coloring. I expected this movie to offer more differences from the original based on reviews. Other than changing a couple scenes in the beginning, this is really just a third act switch. It loses all the humor. It's unyielding and focused. The original also had several neat tricks with Porter using a roll of pennies as brass knuckles and hiding his gun in a newspaper vending machine before meeting the big bosses.
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| Mel Gibson plays Porter |
Porter's antics lead to a meeting with an intermediate boss. He only wants seventy-thousand, but everyone assumes he wants all that Val paid the syndicate. In this movie, the big boss is never seen, though they still agree to an exchange. Where in the first movie Porter cleverly outwitted his opponents, in this movie it's not as clean of an exit. It's a shootout, and Porter's fate is ambiguous. We've seen him cheat death before when his wife shot him, why not again?
The theatrical movie is a better movie, other than the color grading. It adds some humor and the third act is more creative. Porter has been clever throughout the movie, and the original upholds that with a solid ruse that works out. In this one, the ending feels banal. Maybe Porter's luck just ran out or this wanted all the criminals to pay their dues. Either way it wasn't as satisfying.
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