THE PAIN OF MAX PAYNE

FILM: Max Payne
DIRECTOR: John Moore
CAST: Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis




His wife and new born baby were murdered, inside his own apartment. He couldn't save them as he arrived home ten minutes late. He wants vengeance and is soaked in pain. He is Max Payne. The movie is an adaptation of the 2001 video game which is one of the most popular games of all time. I remember, the USP of the Max Payne games used to be the story telling in between the chapters of the game. The movie follows a similar story telling pattern to narrate the story. The screenplay holds the hands of the video game style narration.

Max Payne, a DEA agent, is in search for the killers of his wife. But in this pursuit he is held guilty of two new murder cases, Natasha and his best friend Alex Balder. Mona Sax, an assasin is the sister of Natasha and wants to kill Max Payne. But soon she comes to know of his innocence and vengeance and consequently joins forces with him to look for the actual killer.

Natasha's character is played by Olga of Quantum of Solace fame who makes a guest appearance here.

Max's deceased wife, Michelle Payne, worked for a pharmaceutical company called AESIR. The scientists of this firm had invented a drug called VALKYR. This drug was meant to be a booster to provide unprecedented energy to soldiers. But it was soon realised that an overdose of this drug led to deadly hallucinations.

Slowly and slowly, Mona and Max unfold the mystery and realise that the three murders are very much interdependent. In this pursuit for vengeance Max goes through deception, unrest, struggle and pain.

Coming to performances I think Wahlberg looked stiff at times and was overdoing the character a bit. Kunis was a good choice for Mona Sax. Beau Bridges amazingly portrayed BB in the movie. One of the best performances in this movie was by Amaury Nolasco who portrayed the villain here(Lupino). Olga had a short role to play which she did well. And the surprise factor in the movie was the guest appearance of ace rapper Ludacris.

Truly speaking though the movie does not live up to the greatness of the pc video game, it still strikes a chord and makes a statement with its excellent narration and good picturisation. Max Payne, I hear has done really well in the Box office in the US and to be honest has not released in India yet. But all thanks to the piracy network which has sucessfully circulated the motion picture into the Indian soil before it hits the big screen. So all and all this would be fun to watch when it comes in the theatres. It has got good action and drama and is backed up by a good story(Sam Lake) and a good director. To sum up, No pain in watching this one, go ahead!