"Max Payne" Review

Movie: Max Payne * Official Site	In Theaters: Oct. 17, 2008
Runtime: 100 minutes	Directed by: John Moore
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for violence, including intense shooting sequences, drug content, some sexuality and brief strong language.	Gecko Rating:

Before it premiered, “Max Payne” was wavering between an R rating and a PG-13 rating. It should have been R. The movie is ultra-violent, with massive amounts of shooting and fantasy violence. In fact, I can almost picture the filmmakers in the editing room, going, “Ok, we can make this PG-13 if we take out these three seconds and that five seconds, and…” I was going to take my 14-year-old son, and I’m glad I didn’t, because it’s just too much violence for kids of any age.

The movie stars Mark Wahlberg as Max Payne, a cop who’s been relegated to the cold case files in the basement at the police department. I don’t think they ever say “why” he’s there exactly, but they insinuate that everyone who works there has a tragedy in their past. So they either can’t handle life in the fast lane anymore, or, like Max, they’re obsessed with looking for clues to an unsolved mystery.

For Max, that mystery is the identity of the the shooter who killed his wife and child. At one time, he lived a happy life in his brightly-lit home filled with family pictures on the fridge and love all around. But that love is shattered when he goes home one day to find his wife and baby shot to death.

We see his wife’s bloody body strewn across the bed, and in the R-rated version, they probably showed a scene with the dead baby. Thankfully, they didn’t in this version! But we get the idea, with the baby’s toys scattered about and the mobile above the crib waving in the breeze of the open window. In fact, the entire movie is dark and gloomy and, well, rainy. If that’s the feeling the filmmakers were going for, they did a great job.

The clues lead Max to a drug company his wife worked for at the time of her death. In the process, he crosses paths with a beautiful assassin, Mona Sax(Mila Kunis, whom I couldn’t help seeing as Jackie on “That 70′s Show”), who’s out to avenge her sister’s death — this isn’t Max’s wife, but another woman he meets while searching for clues and whom dies a mysterious death. Then there’s the head of security at the drug company, played by Beau Bridges. And, wow, it’s great to see him again. I know he’s been working steadily, but I haven’t seen him as anything but Earl Hickey‘s dad for a while.

Stylistically, “Max Payne” is grim and gritty, and I was a little miffed about the winged demons flying around the streets. In the trailers, we’re led to believe that it’s a fantasy-based film and these creatures are real. But the movie never really addresses whether they’re real or just the psychosis of various characters playing out. Also, Wahlberg doesn’t really stand out from his usual role of “the guy who’s ticked about something and has to make it right.” In some ways, he’s just phoning it in here.

“Max Payne” is based on a video game, and I’m not sure they ever translate well onto the big screen. Off-hand, I can’t think of one that has. Still, this movie offers some good things stylistically, and it’s worth seeing if you’re a fan of Wahlberg or dark, edgy movies.

But think twice before letting kids under the age of 16 see it. Ultra-violent.

Images: Max Payne, 20th Century Fox Film Corp., 2008