Saturday, July 18, 2009

Pick of the Week 7/20/09

PAYBACK
"No More Mr. Nice Guy"

Every once in a while I get an itch to watch a movie that for lack of a better expression kicks ass. This might seem like a somewhat undignified feeling from someone who appreciates good film, but they are not mutually exclusive when it comes right down to it.
Beat-downs, explosions, beautiful women and bad guys you can’t help but cheer for are something that needs to be experienced once in a while. So, when the mood strikes you, PAYBACK is the movie your gonna want to watch.
Mel Gibson enters the role of Porter, a con man/thief and all around crook who is double crossed and left for dead by his partner, played by Gregg Henry. The story doesn’t get much more complex from there. Porter embarks on a mission to get back his half of the score his partner double crossed him on, a sum of $70,000, which the higher up the organized crime hierarchy Porter gets seems more and more trivial. It's the principal of the thing. Nevertheless, dry humor and great one-liners prevail in this somewhat epic gangster revenge caper. You can’t help but root for Porter deep down in the dark portion of your heart. Plus, Lucy Liu makes a great cameo as a dominatrix, which is just about the most ironic thing I have seen in a long time.
Who knows, this may be the best all around movie experience you've had in a long time.

Starring Mel Gibson, Gregg Henry, Maria Bello, David Paymer and Kris Kristofferson.
Released in 1999.

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