History Film / Payback

* ButtMonkey: Stegman. Seriously, no one has any respect for the guy.
** Val as well. The movie makes incredibly clear that nobody outside of maybe Stegman has any fear of him. Even when he has Rosie at his mercy, she goes out of her way to note how he’s a coward who needs to beat prostitutes to feel tough. His own boss Carter considers whether or not to just have him whacked with the same amount of thought of what to order for lunch, noting he wouldn’t survive two seconds on his own.

* AdaptionationalHeroism: Parker, who Porter is based on, is a much more morally ambiguous and pragmatically vicious person than the more noble crook Porter is portrayed as. In particular, his relationship with his wife Lynn is more more abusive and toxic. Whereas Porter is trying to get his wife off drugs in the movie, Parker in the novel straight up suggests to her to commit suicide through overdose which she then does. Parker then takes her corpse to a city park and slashes her face up and dumps her body into some brush to make it look like it was a serial killing. Compared to the novel, Porter in the movie is much more sympathetic to Lynn and leaves her body in the bed to be found by the cops instead, only removing the heroin needle and embedding it in the wall with is wedding ring as a way to say goodbye.

* ObstructiveBureaucrats: The Outfit is made of this, an unholy mix of a traditional mob and a modern corporation with committees, expense reports, and a pseudo-decentralized management model. Carter tries to use this to brush off giving Porter his money immediately by pointing out how long and complicated it would take for the Outfit’s management to approve granting Porter his money. Porter calls his bluff and notes any organization like this is ultimately going to have someone at the very, very top who could unilaterally approve the request. Carter concedes that, yeah, they could just ask Bronson directly.

* TheMobBossIsScarier: Porter has a difficult time intimidating members of the Outfit, who initially refuse to give him information because the bosses will kill them. Porter always has to remind them, "What do you think ''I'm'' going to do to you? Worry about me."

* FauxAffablyEvil: The Syndicate in general presents themselves as a well-run and bureaucratic organization that just happens to function outside of the law. When pushed, it becomes clear that violence and brutality are basic to their strategies, they just don't like to dwell on it.

* KickTheDog: Val literally shoots Rosie's dog, smacks her around, and talks about raping and beating her. If that's not enough for him to cross the MoralEventHorizon, we also can assume from some dialog that he has beaten Rosie and maybe other Syndicate call girls in the past, he keeps Lynn supplied with/hooked on drugs, and is casually racist.

* TheMobBossIsScarier: Notably averted. Whenever someone says that they can't give Porter information because the Outfit will kill them, Porter always has the same response: "What do you think ''I'm'' going to do to you? Worry about me."

* PunchClockVillain: Fairfax doesn't seem like a bad guy at all. He's just come back from vacation swimming with dolphins and comes across like a hippy. He speaks out against the torture at the end as well. Still, he's in the top management of the Syndicate.

* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: [[spoiler:A few of Porter's toes get a very bad meeting]] [[{{Squick}} With a hammer]]. [[spoiler:Subverted in that it doesn't breaks Porter and he leads the bad guys into a trap through providing misinformation, but the torture he had to endure in order to sell his "breaking" was still brutal -- in the director's cut, it's even implied [[BolivianArmyEnding the injuries may be fatal]].]]

* ComicallySmallDemand: Porter is out to topple a massive criminal empire unless he gets... $70,000. Various crooks and mobsters keep assuming that he at least wants the full $130,000 that Resnick gave them, but Porter insists that he just wants his $70,000 share. One exasperated mob boss exclaims, "My ''suits'' are worth more than that!" In the director's cut, the leader of the Outfit state that she wouldn't even get out of bed in the morning for an amount ''that'' small.

* ConsummateProfessional: Porter is a career criminal, with a knack for details and planning ahead, always keeping his head cool. After being stifled of his paycheck and left with few bullets in his back, he comes back and employs all of his professionalism to get the money back and take down everyone that stands in his way.

* ASimplePlan: How complicated could it be for Porter to track down Val and force him to give the money back? Because Porter learns, early on, that the money was given to a powerful crime organization. Anyone else would have given it up as a lost cause at that point, but not this guy.

* ComicallySmallDemand: Porter is out to topple a massive criminal empire unless he gets... $70,000. Various crooks and mobsters keep assuming that he at least wants the full $130,000 that Resnick gave them, but Porter insists that he just wants his $70,000 share. One exasperated mob boss exclaims, "My ''suits'' are worth more than that!" In the director's cut, the leader of the Outfit state that she wouldn't even get of bed in the morning for an amount ''that'' small.

* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:Pearl. Porter smacks her silly, but she's the only member of the Triad who seems to survive]].

* HumbleGoal: Everyone is surprised that Porter is after a ComicallySmallDemand of the $70,000 that he was originally owed. This is exaggerated from the original novel, where the money he was owed is worth about $250,000 in today's currency, which is still quite small for a huge crime syndicate.

* ImprovisedWeapon: Porter uses a roll of quarters to lend his argument some weight.
* IndyPloy: Between the Outfit, the Triads, the dirty cops, and Arthur, Porter's tapdancing on quicksand to keep out of trouble. In the end, he uses them all against each other.

* HumbleGoal: Everyone is surprised that Porter is only after $70,000. Most assume that he would at least want Val Resnick's share too. Others, like the [[CorruptCop dirty cops]], say that no one would go through this for such a low amount of money. Humorously, it's even ''less'' in the original novel the movie's based on, only being about $40,000.
** However, that novel was written in 1962, so the $45,000 at stake there would be worth just a touch under $250,000 in 1999 due to inflation. It was still a trivial amount to a nationwide criminal syndicate, but enough that they weren't in disbelief that he wanted to get it back like in the film.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Porter is a ruthless all-around cad, but in the theatrical version, he does genuinely love Rosie and the closing narration makes it clear that he's considering a new line of work. The director's cut is something of an aversion, and has some extra KickTheDog moments not in the theatrical, including [[spoiler:Porter beating the hell out of his wife]].
* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:Pearl. Porter smacks her silly but she's the only member of the Triad that appears that doesn't ends up dead.]]

* TheMobBossIsScarier: Notably averted. Whenever someone says that they can't give Porter information because the Outfit will kill them, Porter always has the same response: "What do you think ''I'm'' going to do to you? Worry about me." [[note]][[DontExplainTheJoke It works because he's the one holding a gun to their head at the moment.]][[/note]]

* ComicallySmallDemand: Porter is out to topple a massive criminal empire unless he gets... $70,000. Various crooks and mobsters keep assuming that he at least wants the full $130,000 that Resnick gave them, but Porter insists that he just wants his $70,000 share. One exasperated mob boss exclaims, "My ''suits'' are worth more than that!" A deleted scene tops it by having a leader of the Outfit state that she wouldn't even get off from bed in the morning for an amount ''that'' small.

''Payback'' is a 1999 crime {{thriller}} directed by Brian Helgeland and starring Creator/MelGibson. It is the second adaptation of Richard Stark's novel ''[[Literature/{{Parker}} The Hunter]]'', the first of which being Creator/LeeMarvin's ''Film/PointBlank''. [[note]]The 2013 film ''Film/{{Parker}}'' starring Creator/JasonStatham is adapted from another novel in the same series[[/note]] The cast also includes Creator/MariaBello, Creator/GreggHenry, Creator/KrisKristofferson, Creator/DavidPaymer, Creator/WilliamDevane, Creator/LucyLiu, Creator/BillDuke and Creator/DeborahKaraUnger.

Before the job went down, Val had convinced Lynn (who was tricked into believing Porter was having an affair) to help pull a double cross. Once the loot had been counted, Lynn shot Porter several times in the back, Val took the money, and they both left Porter for dead.

Now, with the help of Rosie (a hooker he used to drive around, protect and date in his wife's back years ago, played by Maria Bello), Porter comes back to claim his share of the job. It doesn't matter if he has to work his way through drug dealers, [[TheTriadsAndTheTongs Triads]], [[DirtyCop bent cops]], TheSyndicate, and a mob-connected dominatrix (Lucy Liu), Porter ''will'' get his $70,000.

''Payback'' is a 1999 crime {{thriller}} directed by Brian Helgeland and starring Creator/MelGibson. It is the second adaptation of Richard Stark's ''[[Literature/{{Parker}} The Hunter]]'', the first of which being Creator/LeeMarvin's ''Film/PointBlank''. The cast also includes Creator/MariaBello, Creator/GreggHenry, Creator/KrisKristofferson, Creator/DavidPaymer, Creator/WilliamDevane, Creator/LucyLiu, Creator/BillDuke and Creator/DeborahKaraUnger

Now, with the help of Rosie (a hooker he used to drive around and protect years ago, played by Maria Bello), Porter's back to claim his share of the job. It doesn't matter if he has to work his way through drug dealers, [[TheTriadsAndTheTongs Triads]], [[DirtyCop bent cops]], TheSyndicate, and a mob-connected dominatrix (Lucy Liu), Porter ''will'' get his $70,000.

In 2005, a director's cut of the film, entitled ''Payback: Straight Up'' was released on home video featuring the original cut of the film before 30% of it was reshot. It is much DarkerAndEdgier than the theatrical version, with Porter as a ruthless VillainProtagonist rather than an AntiHero.

* OnlyOneName: {{Lampshaded}} when Carter asks Resnick for Porter's first name and Resnick has to think for a second before admitting he has no idea.

'''Porter:''' No, I just want my money back... and it's only $70,000. (Turns and leaves)\\

* {{Dominatrix}}: Pearl's profession.

* HighClassCallGirl: Rosie, especially since she works for TheSyndicate now.

* ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules: To a degree. Despite having been betrayed and nearly killed by Val, he shows no interest in Val's share of the heist, all he wants back is the money that was taken from him.

''Payback'' is a 1999 crime {{thriller}} directed by Brian Helgeland and starring Creator/MelGibson. It is the second adaptation of Richard Stark's ''[[Literature/{{Parker}} The Hunter]]'', the first of which being Creator/LeeMarvin's ''Film/PointBlank''. The cast also includes Creator/MariaBello, Creator/GreggHenry, Creator/KrisKristofferson, Creator/DavidPaymer, Creator/WilliamDevane, Creator/BillDuke and Creator/DeborahKaraUnger

Six months ago, Porter (Gibson), a successful but low-profile [[ConsummateProfessional thief who specialized in payroll jobs]], was content. He had a nice home, a loving wife named Lynn, and was financially stable. That all changed when he partnered up with Val Resnick (Henry), a former partner trapped in debt, to steal $140,000 from the Triads. When the job went perfectly, everything seemed alright... except Val's debt was $130,000, and he never intended on sharing the spoils.

Now, with the help of Rosie (a hooker he used to drive around and protect years ago, played by Creator/MariaBello), Porter's back to claim his share of the job. It doesn't matter if he has to work his way through drug dealers, [[TheTriadsAndTheTongs Triads]], [[DirtyCop bent cops]], TheSyndicate, and a mob-connected dominatrix (Creator/LucyLiu), Porter ''will'' get his $70,000.