PAYBACK

CHRIS BOARDMAN

Rating:

Original Review: Despite being plagued by re-writes, re-shoots, hastily included new characters and a public bust-up between director Brian Helgeland and star Mel Gibson, Payback eventually came up smelling of roses after receiving some positive reviews from the movie press, and taking a hefty chunk of money at the box office. A remake of John Boorman's 1967 thriller Point Blank, which was itself based on Richard Stark's novel "The Hunter", Payback stars Mel Gibson as Porter, a generally all-round bad guy who, after stealing a load of money from the Chinese Mafia, is double crossed and left for dead by his smart-mouthed partner and junkie wife. Two years later, and with two bullet holes in his back, Porter returns with a vengeance to reclaim the $70,000 he firmly believes he is entitled to. And NOTHING will get in his way.

Personally, I felt that this was a rather sour-tasting movie which, for all its forced coolness and film noir pretensions, was a poorly executed thriller. The constant gravelly voice-overs from Gibson's character were rather off-putting, the constant mean spirit of the film as a whole occasionally made it difficult to watch and become involved with, and one particular scene in which a sledgehammer connects rather brutally with several of Porter's toes, is unbearably intense (and rather reminiscent of Misery). One aspect which did work, however, was its use of music.

Chris Boardman, better known as one of Hollywood's foremost orchestrators and journeyman conductors, wrote an original score which bears more than a passing resemblance to Lalo Schifrin's "urban funk" music of the late sixties and early seventies. This was obviously a conscious decision on Boardman's part, and it works well. Retro-styled trumpets, slide guitars and throbbing percussion announce the score's intentions straight away in the 'Main Title' and, thereafter, Boardman follows much the same route. Only four cues are included on this album from Varèse and, to be fair, the 15 minutes of score included is about enough. The other three cues follow the standards set out in the first, although 'Lynn's Habit' includes some slightly morose, wavering string and woodwind lines, 'Porter Croaks Carter' features the Hammond organ sound especially favoured by Chris Young at the moment, and 'Warehouse/Finale' has a rather disturbing, dissonant opening to underscore the aforementioned scene of flattened feet.

The rest of the album comprises a series of genre mainstay songs from the likes of Dean Martin, B.B. King and James Brown. This is pure mob music, circa 1950, and further builds upon the whole rat-pack crooner mentality where everyone was on the take, the biggest bosses wore snazzy suits, and top dogs' suitcases cost more than the other guy's house. It's an undemanding, fairly enjoyable album, especially for devotees of the era, and it's encouraging to see someone like Boardman - not exactly a household name - being given a shot at the scoring big time.

Track Listing: Running Time: 36 minutes 25 seconds

Varèse Sarabande VSD-6003 (1998)

Music composed and conducted by Chris Boardman. Orchestrations by Chris Boardman and William Ross. Recorded and mixed by John Richards. Mastered by Erick Labson. Score produced by Chris Boardman. Album produced by Robert Townson and Bruce Davey.


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