Payback

I appreciated this film quite a bit. There's a bit of a low budget feel that gives a true sense of authenticity. I know the story is a bit of a rehash but it works for me. The performances all around are decent and the story moves along well. Thumbs up.

Mike Markovich (Matt Levett ) works for a dubious brokerage firm run by the Ukrainian mafia. He is a natural salesman. He questions about where his client's money went, and then he is sent out to LA. He is set up, but not killed. He spends 6 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. Once out he plots his revenge. Mike was convincing as a broker, not so convincing as a killer. The payback was on the boring side. Unlike the killing Mike never did, Mike's killings never seem to be investigated. Guide: No swearing as I recall. Brief sex. Possible nipple slip.

I've said this so many times for all these Covid-era junk releases, you can't be the director, writer, and producer for a film unless you're in the Top 5 and Joseph Mensch doesn't do any of those roles well which makes for a wasted effort. The bones of the plot are ok, but the execution, the screenplay is juvenile and not thought out; in fact, it just gets more stupid and unlikely as it moves along. And it has the most unlikely ending ever, poorest payoff in the past five films you've seen. The only thing worth watching truly were performances by support cast you may recognize: Lev Gorn who played Zotov in "The Americans" and Toby Moore who plays Bryan in "Billions". And our protag/star, Matt Levett, never seen him before. And he plays a character that should've died in so many scenes. Just add this to the Covid-era pile of rubbish out back.

This is newb/amateur writer, director and producer Joseph Mensch's first full length feature film, with only one prior short film to his credit. Sure, it was flawed, but for an amateur filmmaker, he did better than some seasoned filmmakers productions I've seen lately. For a low budget B film, the score was surprisingly on point, and was not your typical constant, loud, overbearing and unfitting score. His directing was actually decent, but there were some scene fluidity issues. It's as if many parts where cut short with information the viewer needed. I'm not sure if the issues were bad editing, or screenplay related, or both. The story concept was great, but there were many plot, continuity and technical issues in his screenplay. Had Mensch consulted a seasoned screenwriter to edit his writing prior to production, his film wouldn't have had that missing scene fluidity and continuity issues. The pacing was on point for the film's 91 min runtime. Casting was decent, although many performances here and there felt flat, and I'm sure it was due to Mensch's lack of experience in directing his cast properly. Cinematography was excellent, especially with the use of 90's color filters and sets. It seems much detail went into staging that era, and seemed convincing I was watching a film made in the early 90's. Overall, it was a great first effort for a newb filmmaker. With its flaws, I saw it to the end, and I enjoyed it. It's a well deserved 6/10 from me, and certainly not worthy of anything less than a 5/10, because new filmmakers have to start somewhere, right?

Sat down to watch this on a rainy night, and I was entertained throughout. The film has its flaws, but was very well written and kept me engaged. In a year without many films, this is certainly worth watching!

I have to be honest: the first 30% running time got me hooked, but it turned out to be a complete bust. Completely unbelievable characters, completely unbelievable story, complete lack of motive for major life-changing decisions... In short: complete utter garbage. Side note: I find it really funny when millennials think they can mimic the 80's and the 90's, Would it ever cross the mind of anyone who lived through the 80's that any woman would have the nerve to just leave her Russian mob husband? These numb nuts screenwriters probably don't even know that before Madonna was a pop hit, women didn't even felt they had the right to be their own person. I bet the idiots who write these screenplays think that an internet search is the gold standard of research.