Payback

"91: Payback with Ben Acker" is the 94th overall episode of *Podcast Like It's 1999* covering the films of 1999, hosted by Kenny Neibart and Phil Iscove. The episode was released on August 21, 2019.

## Description

"A hard boiled crime movie taken away from its director. A star whose then future, now past makes it hard to watch. This Week, Phil, Kenny and guest Ben Acker (Thrilling Adventure Hour, Supernatural) talk about Payback, a film that would be up all their alleys if not for a good amount of tonal confusion, it having two cuts that neither of which completely fix it and some sexism disguised as genre trappings. Oh, and its star is also an abusive anti-Semite.

We dig deep on Mel Gibson's Controversial career, Lucy Liu's treatment by Hollywood, Ben Acker's love of the Parker books (inspired by the movie), Director's Cut v Theatrical Cut shenanigans, the biggest gap in 99 in ratings for a movie we’ve ever had."

## Kenny's Intro

"Hello and welcome to Podcast Like It's 1999, the podcast where we talk about the films of 1999, **from the back of some sort of 70s fucking vehicle I'm assuming (that's what Phil said), what I had was: from underneath an elevated train track** here in 2019"

## Historical Information

"Porter (Mel Gibson) is a thief betrayed by both his wife, Lynn (Deborah Kara Unger), and his partner, Val (Gregg Henry), when he is shot in the back after a heist. Slowly, Porter recovers from his wounds and begins a search for Val, intent on recovering his share of the money they stole together. With the aid of prostitute Rosie (Maria Bello), Porter captures Val but still cannot find his cash. For this, Porter will have to challenge an imposing crime syndicate called the Outfit."

*Payback* was released 2/5/1999 in 1st place against She's All That, *Patch Adams*, Varsity Blues, and *Saving Private Ryan*. It made $161M on a $90M budget. It has 55% on Rotten Tomatoes from critics and 69% from audiences. Ebert gave the film 3 out of 4 stars
.

## Ratings

**Payback**
 **Phil** | 60
 **Ben** | 94

Kenny and Phil rated based on the director's cut. Kenny said he would have given the theatrical below a 50.

## Movies/TV Mentioned

Commander in Chief, Line of Fire, Get Shorty, Family Guy, City Slickers, Parker, Point Blank, Made in USA, Pillaged, The Split, The Outfit, Slayground, Timepieces, French Connection, The Conversation, LA Confidential, 42, A Knight's Tale, Jumanji 2, The Breakfast Club, Tropic Thunder, Permanent Midnight, Zero Effect, There's Something About Mary, Meet the Parents, The Royal Tenenbaums, Play It to the Bone, Southland, Charlie's Angels, Sherlock, Futurama, The Manchurian Candidate, The Taking of Pelham 123, Man without a Face, Braveheart, Passion of the Christ, Apocalypto, Hacksaw Ridge, Rob Roy, Straw Dogs, Lethal Weapon, Crimes and Misdemeanors, Sweet and Lowdown, What Women Want, We Were Soldiers, Signs, Louie, Happy, Texas, Fargo, Magnolia, Mad Men, Crash, The Order, Legend, Finestkind, Conspiracy Theory, A Beautiful Mind, The Postman, Waterworld, Dances with Wolves, Daddy's Home 2, The Beaver, Shawshank Redemption, Batman, The Departed, John Wick, Six Feet Under, Evil Dead II, A History of Violence, Prime Suspect, Coyote Ugly, ER, Blade Runner

## References

1. ↑ Box Office Mojo. Payback. BoxOfficeMojo.com. Retrieved on May 4, 2022.
2. ↑ Rotten Tomatoes. Payback. RottenTomatoes.com. Retrieved on May 4, 2022.
3. ↑ Roger Ebert. Payback. RogerEbert.com. Retrieved on May 4, 2022.