Final Payback

This is one of those movies with no likable characters and a nonsense plot. The sound in the action scenes was laughably bad, as was the action. They will shoot 50 bullets at someone standing infront of them and the bullets don't leave any impact on the scenery around them. The same two sounds for punches over and over just keep being used. Nothing anyone does make sense, right from the start. It's just bad on every level. The acting was generally passable for a direct to DVD movie, but it was still poor.

Never heard of it? Good. This is your typical straight to video type movie. While it is watchable, it is so boring, so predictable, and uses about single cliche in film about corrupt cops & seeking revenge. Be sure to skip this along and actually find something with REAL actors and a REAL story.

Two words "Rampart Scandal". Final payback is the kind of movie you see is if you've ever heard of the rampart scandal and wondered why it happened. Just like that scandal there are no real winners but a lot of empathy for both sides. Richard Grieco is excellent as a washed up cop who quits in disgrace over moral issues and Martin Kove is equally great as his nemesis. Overall the cast is quite good for a low budget feature. Corbin Bernsen, John Saxon, Pricilla Barnes and Laura Harring rounds out the cast of actors. The film is well written and directed and overcomes many of it's failings by the stylish directing and purposely gritty cinematography.

Richard Grieco stars in Final Payback as an ex-cop who is fooling around with the Police Commissioner's wife. One night after some heavy partying he gets drunk and wakes up and finds her stabbed to death in the shower.

Of course he didn't do it, but the both of them have made mad a lot of powers that be and what better way to be rid of both of them than to kill one and frame the other.

Some familiar names are in this one and it could have been a lot better. But too many holes in the plot of this one. At times this doesn't make any rational sense.

For hardcore police drama fans and fans of Richard Grieco.

I'm not sure what I think about this as a whole. I think it wanted to be more than it was: there were interesting side bits about the people police captain Kove draws into his plan to eliminate Joey Randall, the flawed but ultimately sympathetic lead as played by the always-nice-to-look-at Richard Grieco. Corbin Bernsen was entertaining in his brief on screen time; Angelo Ales was also very colorful as Uncle Sal, and Sherrie Rose was a treat as a psycho druggie chick, clearly enjoying her role very much. Some things were predictable and some came out of nowhere, such as Grieco's old love seemingly suddenly changing her mind about her feelings for him. Priscilla Barnes' cameo was nicely creepy. Good cast, uneven script; not too sure about the voice-overs from Grieco about things we could see for ourselves. I'm searching for the way to sum this up... and I guess... it wasn't bad. If you like Grieco, you'll like this, and the supporting cast is interesting. If you like chases and fights, you'll like this well enough, too. Not a cinematic masterpiece by any means, but not the worst way to spend 90 minutes, either. And Grieco is good for "the scenery" alone.