In 2016, director Gavin O'Connor and Warner Bros. released the world action movie "Payback". The picture received mixed reviews, despite the fact that in cinemas the “Payback” tape earned more than $ 155 million. What is the plot of the film about? And who played the main roles in it?
The creators and the short plot of the picture
Gavin O'Connor began his career in 1995 with the debut tape Comfort Room. Recognition for the director came after in 2011 he shot the drama "Warrior", which was nominated for several prestigious film awards. After completing the shooting of the Western "Jane Takes a Gun," O'Connor began work on the painting "Reckoning."
Reviews of the film in the first weekend of rental pleased the bosses of Warner Bros. The producers did not expect at all that an action movie with thriller elements would earn $ 25 million in a couple of days and overtake other films released in the same period.
That's because the plot of O'Connor’s picture is a bit unusual: the main character is autistic, but this does not prevent him from shooting accurately with a rifle, possessing ingenious mathematical abilities and working as a “black” financier with mafiosi.
The film “Reckoning” is filled with unexpected plot twists, shootings, and scenes of persecution, because the main character Christian Wulf is directly connected with the criminal world. The situation is complicated when Wulf gets into the field of view of law enforcement agencies - now the young man is forced to make every possible effort to maintain his usual lifestyle and favorite work.
Leading actors
The film "Reckoning" was included in the filmography of the Hollywood celebrity Ben Affleck ("Operation Argo") - he was assigned the main role in the film.
According to the plot, the hero of Affleck has been suffering from autism since childhood. But thanks to the efforts of a strong-willed father, Christian socialized and learned to live in society. Here are just a guy with ingenious analytical abilities who chose an unusual job for himself: he is an auditor who, in his spare time, works part-time by bookkeeping killers, drug lords and other representatives of the mafia.
Actor JK Simmons appeared in the frame in the image of the head of the Ministry of Finance, Ray King, who opened the hunt for Christian Wolfe. Jay Kay is also known for the films “Obsession” by Damien Chazell and the “Gentlemen's Games” of the Cohen brothers.
Anna Kendrick got the role of Dana Cummings - Wolfe's assistant during his work for Living Robotics. Kendrick has basically built a career on Broadway musicals, but sometimes appears in major Hollywood projects such as Twilight, Scott Pilgrim Against Everyone and My Boyfriend is a Killer.
Cynthia Addai-Robinson (TV / Strelok, Dallas) played in the action movie "Reckoning" of special agent Marybeth Medina, who personally conducted a secret investigation into the Christian Wolfe case.
Supporting Actors
John Burntal was invited to the role of the criminal element of Braxton in the movie "Payback". Bernthal is mostly known for the series The Walking Dead and Daredevil.
Jeffrey Tambor (“The Death of Stalin”), John Lithgow (“The Crown”), Gregory Alan Williams (“Terminator: Genesis”) and Gene Smart (“Hawaii 5-0”) also appeared in the frame.
“Reckoning": feedback from viewers
Large box office shows that the thriller Gavin O'Connor was to the taste of the audience. What hooked them in the film "Payback"?
Reviews of the film, in the first place, are eulogies in honor of the extraordinary script and its competent presentation.
The director, under a magnifying glass, examines the environment in which Wulf grew up and how the microclimate in the family influenced the formation of Christian's character. The story of Wolfe is interesting in that Ben Affleck appears before the viewer not in the image of the notorious inflated hero with extraordinary physical abilities, but on the contrary, we see a man full of contradictions. Christian is strong in mathematics and analytics, sometimes he has to defend his life on his own, but he also has weaknesses: limited physical capabilities, difficulties associated with an incurable disease.
In addition, the screenwriter Bill Dubuc worked hard so that until the very end of the picture the audience did not fully understand what the outcome would be. What else do you need to spend an entertaining weekend?
Reckoning: Criticism
According to rottentomatoes website statistics, Gavin O'Connor's film received only 52% of positive reviews from film critics from around the world. That is, about the action movie “Reckoning”, reviews from professional observers are not as optimistic as from ordinary viewers.
First of all, the critics are confused by the image of Christian Wolfe: it is difficult to believe in an autistic man who strikes small targets from a rifle from a 3-kilometer distance, communicates on equal terms with leading world terrorists and mafiosi, and with such psychological stress has not yet gone crazy and not got to the hospital.
Also, reviewers complain that the screenwriter and director of the picture were too carried away by a heap of plot twists and forgot that at the end of each tape there should also be a logical conclusion from everything shown. And the finale of the "Reckoning" remains as if "open" and unfinished.