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Payback

1999

Brian Helgeland

Mel Gibson, Gregg Henry, Maria Bello, David Paymer ...

6.1

12,972

Thriller. Action 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 ... [+]

	Author	Review
United States	Roger Ebert rogerebert.com	"[It] is more interested in style than story (...) There is much cleverness and ingenuity in 'Payback', but Mel Gibson is the key (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)"	POS
United States	Stephen Hunter The Washington Post	"[It] is a great big piece of wannabe cool (...) In the end, the movie isn't a guilty pleasure but a gigantic injection of Novocain to the medulla"	NEU
United States	Mick LaSalle SFGATE	"A higher class of thriller (...) Gibson and Bello play it heartfelt and grounded"	POS
United States	Peter Travers Rolling Stone	"In the popcorn sense, it certainly delivers on mindless escapism. In the artistic sense, let's just say that 'Payback' is a long way from 'Point Blank'."	NEU
United States	Michael O'Sullivan The Washington Post	"A sharp and funny script, understated acting, stylish."	POS
United States	Owen Gleiberman Entertainment Weekly	"'Payback' is eminently watchable, and that’s what’s shocking about it; it’s the artistic equivalent of getting away with murder."	POS
United States	Paul Clinton CNN	"[It] isn't going to get any Academy Awards, but it's worth seeing only if you like your action bloody, fast and furious"	NEU

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