Dish of the Day
Just some film musings of a more succinct, spontaneous and sometimes seditious nature:
Tuesday, February 28, 2023
Today’s “Dish of the Day” has a brief review of mine that was inspired by a post in one of the film related Facebook chat rooms. This includes the Cinema Cafe group (all readers are encouraged to join here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/902349343110685). As usual, my thoughts on the following motion picture are with the minority views.
(For Part 1: The War of the Worlds (1953) or War of the Worlds (2005) in the series, click here).
Make or Remake, which is better? Part 2: Point Blank (1967) or...
Payback (1999)
Both Point Blank (1967) and Payback (1999) are adaptations of “The Hunter” by Donald E. Westlake aka Richard Stark. Payback captures nothing of what was so special about Point Blank: the latter's hypnotic, enigmatic and elliptical style perfectly married to a dream like journey of a man brutally betrayed by his best friend and wife, left for dead all alone in a deserted prison. Although the flashback scenes are brief, they paint a human portrait of who he was compared to the machine-like entity he’s become, now seeking the $90,000 he feels is owed to him. Walker has subtle character shades by way of an establishing relationship with wife Lynne, his betrayer Reese and subsequent scenes with Chris (Walker's sister-in-law) that make his alternate emotionless persona a comparatively tragic figure, substituting money for what was lost to him. What else is left? That's all he wants, his money from the deal. Not only does Walker not kill anyone or resolve any conflict successfully, he often acts oddly when questioned about his behaviour or real purpose. Finally, there's a message about the futility of revenge. Walker gets his money but it’s of no use. It means nothing whether he's a ghost, real person or just a dying man’s thoughts. Either way, his soul is gone as Chris alludes to earlier when she says he died at Alcatraz. Finally, he's swallowed up by the shadows at Fort Point. Both have symbolic beginning (Alcatraz prison) and end (Fort Point) locations.
Payback on the other hand, celebrates revenge in mostly dumbed-down comic book fashion. Meaning, interpretation, character revelation, all wiped out for some simple-minded macho posturing. Mel Gibson's dimensionless character (here named Porter) in Payback only has the singular revenge trait we've seen before in countless crappy action movies. Payback is exhaustingly routine even as a crime thriller on its own (the constant one-upmanship that seems to be forever gaining in popularity, battling machismo and ludicrously big explosions substitute for intelligent and creative conflicts). It’s a film that requires as much of an effort for the discerning viewer to enjoy as the “payback” its anti-hero tries to obtain.
Verdict: Point blank? The answer is Point Blank (1967)
(For Part 3: The Mummy (1967) or The Mummy (1999) in the series, click here).
All responses are not only welcomed but encouraged in the comments section below.
Hope to see you tomorrow.
A.G.