Payday

Occasionally, in the Art of Movie Making, all things come Together with a Synchronistic Symmetry and the Result is a Near-Perfect Picture that seems as Well Crafted as it Possibly could be.

This happens, No Matter the Budget, Production Capabilities, or the Artisans Applying Their Craft. This is one of those Movies.

A Gritty, Early Seventies Character Study of a Merle Haggard Style Country Music Singer. A Mid-Level Star that Humps the Highways Playing Honky Tonks and the Sort, and with His Charming Crusty Ways, takes Advantage of Anyone on His Path to one more Payday.

It's that Payday, along with Pills and Alcohol, that Fuels the Folks in the Band and the Entourage that is Small enough to fit into a Cadillac and one more Trailing Vehicle.

Rip Torn Simply Embodies the Type and becomes completely Lost in the Role. He's "In the Skin" of this Self-Centered Warbler as He Encounters Groupies, Payola DJ's, and some Irate and Hostile Folks who Don't Care much for His Lecherous Ways.

The Movie is Mesmerizing with its Neo-Realism and Not One Scene seems Forced or Faked. The Dialog Crackles with Down Home Cynicism and Playful, Uneducated Insight, Fractured by a Hard Reality Colliding with the Hard Living.

A Compelling, Watchable, Car-Wreck of Real People Realizing the World Around Them and What They Want isn't always What They Got Coming. A Must See, Little Known, B-Movie that hasn't lost a bit of its Edge. Primitive Movie Making at its Best.

I saw this about 3 years ago - I got to admit I was slightly inebriated after a lot of alcohol, but still some of the scenes penetrated my mind clearly, with their pull-no-punches cynicism. Maury Dann (played by Rip Torn) was one of the most memorable crooks I've ever seen in film. This sombre character study from the 70's addresses the themes of power and using people, set in the world of country & western music. As Dann's world slowly but surely crumbles, we see glimpses of the past of this cynical singer star trying to hit it big and the bleak relationships around him.

I agree with the previous writer, that the film is (sadly) largely unknown, despite a great script by the writer Don Carpenter and a staggering performance from Rip Torn.

I remember watching this film late night in college on the movie channel Encore some 15 years ago. It is a great flick that captures what life on the road for a country western singer must have been like. As others have noted, it could serve as a biography for Johnny Cash and many others of that era who lived a life of pills, booze, and one-night stands with a little music sprinkled in between. Rip Torn is great in this movie, though it's hard now not to picture him as Arthur from the Larry Sanders Show. The one line from Torn's character that sticks with me even today is: "You only go through this life once. You might as well do it in a Cadillac." I'd love to see this movie again but I imagine it would be a hard find.

Rip Torn was originally slated to play the lawyer role that Jack Nicholson played in "Easy Rider". After a last-minute spat with Dennis Hopper, Torn was no longer part of the project. (Nicholson, who had pretty much given up on acting by then and was working in a technical capacity on the film, stepped into the role and the rest is history.) No matter; Torn went on to do this movie a couple years later, and if there were any justice in the movie biz (there isn't) this role would have made Rip Torn a bona fide movie star; (instead he is a respected film/t.v actor and a bona fide star of the American stage; most people in the public simply don't know who he is or they get him confused with Rip Taylor, the comedian/magician). CHECK THIS MOVIE OUT, if you're lucky enough to find it; (don't bother with the big video chain stores--you'll need a hip mom/pop shop to locate this one). It is well worth the search. Torn (as Maury Dann) does his own singing (a precursor to Robert Duvall's work in "Tender Mercies") and does it well; the supporting actors are great, the writing quirky and strong, and the direction bold. The film is also filled with some unforgettable scenes: Maury confronted by a jealous boyfriend in a diner tops the list; also, the strangely funny scene where Maury goes home and visits his barbiturate-addled Mother, and the scene where Chicago, the driver, talks about his love of cooking. Other scenes, such as when Maury goes "bird shooting", are memorable simply because they ring out as authentic and true. Some of the other comments seem disappointed with the ending; it didn't bother me. Though disturbing, I thought it worked. There was a sense of inevitability leading up to it. This is a portrait of a singer living on the edge of country music stardom and riding a "downbound train". The film is powerful and stays with you. And, yes, almost nobody knows about it.

Rip Torn steals the film and lifts it above its drive-in milieu. It played briefly in NYC and the cast works hard enough to make it a good rental. Many of the actors had only TV credits and this could have been a breakthrough film. It was marketed poorly. It also has a good 'road' feel to it. This road feel could have made it a nifty period piece. Why it never made a punch is hard to tell. However a preview audience in NYC found a lot to like about it, including the Torn character's disregard for the other characters. It's worth a look and should make a good double bill in a rep cinema with Coppola's "You're A Big Boy Now" where Torn and the Lovin' Spoonful soundtrack help to save that film. The film was also released at a time when everybody was trying to "recreate" Easy Rider, et al.