Movie Review for Max Payne (2008)

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Review #705 of 365
Movie Review of Max Payne (2008) [PG-13] 100 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $10.00
Where Viewed: Regal Cinemas Continental 10, Denver, CO
When Seen: 17 October 2008 @ 12:01 am
DVD Release Date: Unscheduled (please check back)
After the Credits: There is a short scene after the credits (if you missed it, check the spoiler for details.)
Unsung Member of the Crew: Leadman -- Carlos Caneca

Soundtrack: order the CD below

Directed by: John Moore (The Omen)
Screenplay by: Beau Thorne (debut) based on the video game script by Sam Lake

Featured Cast (Where You Might Remember Him/Her From):
Mark Wahlberg (The Happening) • Mila Kunis (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) • Beau Bridges ("Stargate: SG1") • Ludacris (Fred Claus) • Chris O'Donnell (Kit Kittredge: An American Girl) • Donal Logue (Ghost Rider) • Amaury Nolasco (Street Kings) • Kate Burton ("Grey's Anatomy") • Olga Kurylenko (Hitman)

review lite • website • trailer • premiere photos • spoiler • 2cOrNot2c?
Dark, ominous, bleak, and gothic Director John Moore's Max Payne, based on the video game, seems billed as a supernatural thriller and turns out more like shortened season of the Fox hit '24' with a government conspiracy mixed with the criminal underworld. Mark Walberg takes on the character of Max Payne, a glorified file clerk, cold case detective formerly of homicide. His Jack Bauer-like angst derives from the gruesome unsolved murder of his wife and infant child and the nagging sense he harbors that everything that could have been done to flesh out justice hasn't been. Things start to get wacky for him when he encounters a young woman at a party held by one of his former snitches, Trevor (Andrew Friedman). Trevor has moved up in the world of his clientele, as this party is flush with big spenders obviously into the more regular drugs. Natasha Sax (Olga Kurylenko) takes a liking to him almost instantly over the strong concern of her sister Mona (Mila Kunis) and, eventually, goes home with him. When she inadvertently makes a bad joke about his dead wife, she finds herself out the door instead of in his bed. As she wanders the dark street of Manhattan alone under the gentle flurries of winter snow, she's suddenly attacked and killed by an unknown assailant.

Max finds out about the gruesome murder the next morning when his former partner Alex Balder (Donal Logue)intercepts him on his way to work. He takes Max to the scene of Natasha's death for Max to see Natasha's body hacked to pieces. Alex wants to know why Max's wallet is the only trace of evidence anyone has yet found at the scene. Max protests that she must have stolen it from him and truthfully denies having anything to do with the heinous crime. Alex doesn't know what to believe, but upon processing the rest of the evidence including crime scene photos, he uncovers a link between Natasha's murder & that of Michelle Payne's.

There's not a cheerful moment in the film…dark, ominous, bleak, and gothic…
Unfortunately, he's unable to convey the information to Max before a faceless assassin kills him at Max's apartment. Max arrives to meet him and exchange the information, and is almost killed himself. Max ends up alive but in the hospital and again the only logical suspect in this murder. His father's former partner from the force BB Hensley (Beau Bridges) arrives at the hospital to comfort him and help get to the bottom of the murders that keep haunting him. Clues come at a heavy price as he faces the distrust of his former colleagues on the force and the wrath of Mona who believes, at first, he killed her sister. The more he explores the deeper and deeper he falls into the mystery that could finally bring him peace.

No doubt the shadowy world of Max Payne will seem of little redeeming value to some viewers. There's not a cheerful moment in the film, and squeaky-clean Chris O'Donnell returns from a long absence in film to play a relatively bad guy. Still, the story is gripping, at least until is teeters on the absurd as the Valkyrie mythology mixes too liberally with the reality of Max's life so as to reach a point where it becomes difficult to separate fact from fiction. In judging the film, the best point of reference / comparison seems to start with The Matrix and work backwards. The story is neither as inventive nor as engrossing, the hero perhaps as stoic but not as easy to relate to, and the ancillary characters neither painted as richly nor acted out as profoundly. While there stands a similarly dark look and feel to Max Payne, over all, there's no universality to the characters or the events. Working off the narrative of a video game has rarely proven overly effective in the generation of a high quality feature films, but Max Payne certainly exceeds the success of Resident Evil that has spawned two sequels from its original outing. Max Payne is certain to have a following, but it's unlikely to have a broad audience appeal in the long run. Beau Bridges practically is comically bad in his performance of BB Hensley as is Chris 'Ludachris' Bridges as Jim Bravura--the detective charged with bringing in Max Payne. Mila Kunis seems unable to distance herself from the powty-lipped Jackie she portrayed for way too long on "That 70's Show", but she's not terrible here. Mark Walberg is fine. The role of Max demands little from the performer save an indelible expression and trademark half grin/sneer with a touch of constipation. Most people would probably agree they prefer seeing him in roles like that he played in Invincible.

Given the plethora of really good films out there, Max Payne will face a difficult road in finding an audience, and for those to whom it looks appealing, be prepared for a set-up for a sequel given in the scene that follows the credits.


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Cast Members
Mark Wahlberg • Mila Kunis • Beau Bridges#VALUE! • Chris O'Donnell • Donal Logue
Amaury Nolasco • Kate Burton • Olga Kurylenko
Director
John Moore
Writer
Beau Thorne
Review-lite Max Payne (2008) [max of 150 words]
Dark, ominous, bleak, & gothic Director John Moore's Max Payne, based on the video game, seems billed as a supernatural thriller but turns out more like shortened season of the Fox hit '24' with a government conspiracy mixed with the criminal underworld. Mark Walberg takes on the character of Max Payne, a glorified file clerk, cold case detective formerly of homicide. His Jack Bauer-like angst derives from the gruesome unsolved murder of his wife and infant child and the nagging sense he harbors that everything that could have been done to flesh out justice hasn't been. The more he explores the deeper and deeper he falls into the mystery that could finally bring him peace. Max Payne will face a difficult road in finding an audience, and for those to whom it looks appealing, be prepared for a set-up for a sequel given in the scene that follows the credits.
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