James McCargar said that "any organized society is intolerant of those who set themselves apart from the prevailing norms. [Those who do] are skeptical of [society's] ideals, of its morals and interests; they arrogate to themselves the right to reject the established code and to live by their own. It is human nature to resent such independence, even arrogance." But what if all of your story's characters exist apart from society? Who, then, is resented for rejecting the established code and living by their own?

The beauty of `Payback' is the beneath-the-surface story that exists apart from the Gibson-narrated revenge tale filmed through a blue lens. The story is about the individual against the organization; about belonging and not belonging. When Gregg Henry's character [Val Resnick] seeks help from the criminal syndicate of which he is a part, he is told "the organization needs men that are tough and self-reliant." It is a wonderful paradox. Men who are `tough and self-reliant' have no need of organizations. Porter [Gibson], the protagonist is a man possessing both virtues, evidenced by his actions in the first three minutes of the film. If the organization (the `Outfit') needs anyone, it needs someone like Porter. But Porter never belonged to it, never wanted to belong to it, and now finds himself opposed to the interests of this criminal syndicate.

Compare Porter to Val Resnick, the man who betrays the anti-hero protagonist and attempts to have him killed. Resnick is neither tough nor self-reliant. "Do you know your value to the organization, Resnick?" asks Mr. Carter. "You're a sadist. You lack compunction. That comes in handy." Resnick "wouldn't last two minutes out on the street without [The Outfit]" comments Mr. Carter, after Resnick has been cut loose.

We are contemptuous of Resnick and admiring of Porter. Why? Resnick belongs, doesn't he? In fact, he's a member of organized crime. Americans of every stripe long have fantasized of being `connected,' of being `made.' Witness the popularity of `The Soprano's,' `Goodfellas,' `Casino,' `The Godfather.' Perhaps The Outfit is not admired because the portrayal of organized crime in `Payback' is different. The men may be every bit as tough, but they're also corporate. Mr. Carter is every bit the white-collar senior executive. To Resnick he quips "helping you is--in a way--protecting [our] investment, and that is always good business policy."

Do we admire Porter because we find his battle against The Outfit satirical? Porter is the blue collar guy (a porter) who rebels against his corporate overlords, seeking what's rightfully his. They, in turn, are mystified that he wants only what's due him. Such small stakes, it seems. Porter can kill these men without stigma. Despite the seemingly bureaucratic world in which they operate, they are criminal actors, after all. We resent such independence, such arrogance. Well, except for Porter.

Two wrongs, it seems, do make a right-at least in a motion-picture. Porter neatly escapes; tough, self-reliant, and more clever than his opponents. How is this? The answer is found ten minutes and forty seconds into the film, in the form of four letters. Porter once belonged to an organization. One a lot older than The Outfit, and one that undoubtedly taught him a few things about organizations. More importantly, it taught him about himself.

Those four letters? They're tattooed on his right arm.

I watched this one five years ago and the truth is I did not like that much. RANSOM is a very suspenseful film. Like I do with all my movie reviews, I'm not gonna tell you the plot or what's it about, but I can tell you this:
If you like those kind of movies in which revenge is involved, than I think this one's for you. I don't like most of those revenge movies like THE PUNISHER. But, overall it was pretty good and suspenseful.

Thanks to his work on films like the Oscar winning LA Confidential and the cool medieval actioner A Knight's Tale, I became a fan of Brian Helgeland. As I have worked my way through the rest of his filmography though, I was suprised to discover that, other than the two standouts I mentioned, most of his other work seems...lacking. Despite having mega-star Mel Gibson as the movie's anti-hero, Payback, ends up being a generic, by the numbers film.

Since the cash was already stolen by other thieves, Porter (Gibson) and Val (Gregg Henry) figure that if they steal it, they're in the clear. When the time comes around to split the take, Val makes three grave mistakes: he takes Porter's cut of the loot; he takes Porter's wife Lynn (Deborah Kara Unger) and then tries to take Porter's life. Trouble is, Porter didn't die, and now wants revenge. He wants his cut and doesn't care what he has to do to get it. Now, everyone in the city's criminal underworld, have Porter's cross-hairs trained on them. Porter turns to former girlfriend Rosie (Maria Bello) for help in tracking down his enemies.

Adapted from author Donald E. Westlake's novel, entitled The Hunter, the Payback script penned by Helgeland and Terry Hayes has little suprise to it. The cynical movie watcher will surely groan at the way things play out. As the director, Helgeland tries to be cool and gives the film a sterile metalic look, bleeding out most of the color--nothing new--it's kind of distracting. Gibson is O.K. but let's face it, he could do this role with one hand tied behind his back, hopping up and down on one foot..eyes closed of course. I have always had a bit of a thing for Bello...but she's wasted here, as are the likes of James Colburn, David Paymer, and Bill Duke.

The DVD extras, like tke film they support, are devoid of much subtance. A hollow behind-the-scenes featurette, with cast and crew using doublespeak to talk up Payback, and two theatrical trailers are all you get.

I give Payback two stars for Gibson, who does the best he can in a role he has done before, in Lethal Weapon.

dark and dreary, perfect for a revenge movie. payback was shocking from the gruesome scenes such as the hammering of 'piggies' and the ripping of the rings out of the heroine dealer's nose. this movie was great. porter is the man who has almost nothing to lose and won't stop no matter what the cost to get his 70,000 dollars, not 130,000. lucy liu looked great as a pain loving 'working girl'. i just loved how porter made people listen who didn't want to listen. the lack of color adds to the effective crime life scenerio. after all is done, you find it hard not to root for this antihero.

Considering thirty percent of this movie had to be reshot when Brian Helgeland was replaced as director, you'd expect there to be all sorts of continuity problems, especially as the re-shoots resulted in a delay of almost one year, because Mel Gibson was committed to Lethal Weapon 4 right after principal photography ended. But the film turns out pretty well in the end.

Despite the fact Mel Gibson isn't ageing too well, since his days as Mad Max, and the constant cigarette in hand (I was told I wouldn't like this movie due to this), if you can ignore the cigarette, then the film passes quickly. If you want to call Mel all the names under the sun because he's stupid to be ruining his looks by smoking, then you'll probably want to punch the screen every time he smokes. I dread to think how many cigarettes he smoked during production. And poor Maria Bello had to kiss him. Ugh.

The use of guns in this movie is quite shocking, every character seems to have at least one gun, and while Lucy Liu (credited as Lucy Alexis Liu) evens it out by doing her high kicks, it's just pure violence at its best. (Including some very surprising scenes between Lucy Liu and the bad guy - that's supposed to turn people on, beating the daylights out of each other?! Right) There are some scenes, especially towards the end, which will definitely give you flashbacks to Braveheart. You expect Mel to yell "Freedom" at any moment! Think this little piggy went to market, and you'll be curling your toes, until they're meeting your ankles.

In the first few minutes of the movie, he has stolen from a 'crippled' Vietnam veteran, pickpocketed a man's wallet, stiffed a waitress, and used the said credit card to buy a nice fancy suit, a gun, and dinner. Later, when his meal is over, a waiter informs him the credit card he is trying to pay with has been canceled. "Nonsense," Porter says. "Try it again." The waiter then leaves and so does Porter. (Can't they trace him?) Mel does some voice over in the movie, in one of the most sadistic voices I've ever heard.

The movie's very dark, and it's a surprise to see such a cheery character as Maria Bello (best known to me as Lil from Coyote Ugly, although the long hair put me off from recognising her). Mel Gibson is pretty good in this, despite the smoking, but I'll let him off with that. He's obviously gonna suffer in later years. Worthwhile getting this movie, as long as you don't get offended by violence, and Lucy Liu getting smacked around.