Payback (1999)

The theatrical release of Payback (1999) was about a bad guy bent on revenge. Payback: The Director's Cut (2006) is an act of revenge by director Brian Helgeland on the Hollywood system (and if the rumors are true, Mel himself) that feared his stark, neo-noir vision and saw his film recut into something more like star Mel Gibson's Lethal Weapon series. Freed from forced levity and out from under the earlier version's voiceovers, Mel stars as Porter, an antihero career thief primed for payback after his best bud, Val (Gregg Henry), plugs him and takes his cut of a huge 140K score away. Because Val's been railing Porter's wife (Deborah Kara Unger), and these no-goods know their noir. Mel's not even mad about that, though. He's a man of principle, and demands his 70K cut, no more no less. Nevertheless, forcing Val to give him his cash won't be easy, and a whole lot of capable crooks are going to get in his way before he gets that cash back. Sound like a familiar plot? Well, the book it's based on, "The Hunter" by Donald E. Westlake, was adapted into the 1967 Lee Marvin flick Point Blank (1967). Going over the differences between the two stories would be rather pointless, since the big question is whether we see Mel's man piece or not. Unfortunately, we don't in fact get to see the Gibson goodies, but in the process of exacting his revenge, Mel gets nude and hits the shower, showing off his hunky upper bod as he lets the water roll over him. Too bad we didn’t get a look at that lethal weapon he’s packing down below! Original? Director's cut? Who cares? What'd really have us paying for a new version of Payback is if the camera pointed downwards to show that fine crack!