Re: RARA-AVIS: Payback/Point Blank


Juri Nummelin (jurnum@utu.fi)
Mon, 2 Aug 1999 10:18:33 +0300 (EET DST)


On Fri, 30 Jul 1999, Kevin Smith wrote:

> I just saw both these films, almost back to back. It may be sacreligious to
> say, but I thought PAYBACK was superior in almost every way. Lee Marvin was
> great in the role, but Gibson was even scarier, and the more recent film
> was tighter, told the story better and was less preoccupied with being
> artsy (although the blue-ish tint of PAYBACK made it look almost like an
> old black and whiter noir at times).
>
> And it makes me wonder about the stories that Payback was tinkered with to
> make the Porter character more likable. Huh? How'd they do that? Have
> Gibson shoot someone in the head only four times, instead of five? All in
> all, a nasty, hardboiled treat. And far superior to the director's last
> flick, LA CONFIDENTIAL.

Shoot only for the error: "Payback" was directed by Brian Helgeland, who wrote the script of "L.A. Confidential". The Ellroy film was directed by Curtis Hanson (and it is his best film). Haven't seen "Payback", so I can't comment on the versions' differences. But I've always thought that John Boorman fully realized Richard Stark's idea about organized crime as a society.

Juri jurnum@utu.fi

>
> So shoot me.
>
> Kevin Burton Smith
> The Thrilling Detective Web Site
> http://www.colba.net/~kvnsmith/thrillingdetective/
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>
>
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