User reviews

Perhaps a film to watch when your in isolation or just procrastinating. It's very slow to get going but still its entertaining. I was hoping for a remake of the Mel Gibson classic "payback".

I do think it would have been better as a drama series, allowing the characters to grow and possibly strengthen the storyline.

Thank heavens. Not bad well-acted, etc., but I found it relatively slow, with few action scenes, as budget allowed, at 1 hour 25 minutes it seemed longer, after an hour I started to skip a little. There are much better dramas out there, but it was OK.

I've said this so many times for all these Covid-era junk releases, you can't be the director, writer, and producer for a film unless you're in the Top 5 and Joseph Mensch doesn't do any of those roles well which makes for a wasted effort. The bones of the plot are ok, but the execution, the screenplay is juvenile and not thought out; in fact, it just gets more stupid and unlikely as it moves along. And it has the most unlikely ending ever, poorest payoff in the past five films you've seen. The only thing worth watching truly were performances by support cast you may recognize: Lev Gorn who played Zotov in "The Americans" and Toby Moore who plays Bryan in "Billions". And our protag/star, Matt Levett, never seen him before. And he plays a character that should've died in so many scenes. Just add this to the Covid-era pile of rubbish out back.

Ya know, not a perfect film, but in 2021, im just thankful there's something out there to watch.

This film had real potential but it fell flat midway. A guy who's setup by his co worker for murder serves six years and gets out and makes no so smart decisions to exact "payback" and it causes the 2nd half of the story to fall down. Mike's role should have been written more clever and the film would have been solid. Still a good watch but nothing to write home about.

This is newb/amateur writer, director and producer Joseph Mensch's first full length feature film, with only one prior short film to his credit. Sure, it was flawed, but for an amateur filmmaker, he did better than some seasoned filmmakers productions I've seen lately.

For a low budget B film, the score was surprisingly on point, and was not your typical constant, loud, overbearing and unfitting score. His directing was actually decent, but there were some scene fluidity issues. It's as if many parts where cut short with information the viewer needed. I'm not sure if the issues were bad editing, or screenplay related, or both. The story concept was great, but there were many plot, continuity and technical issues in his screenplay. Had Mensch consulted a seasoned screenwriter to edit his writing prior to production, his film wouldn't have had that missing scene fluidity and continuity issues. The pacing was on point for the film's 91 min runtime. Casting was decent, although many performances here and there felt flat, and I'm sure it was due to Mensch's lack of experience in directing his cast properly. Cinematography was excellent, especially with the use of 90's color filters and sets. It seems much detail went into staging that era, and seemed convincing I was watching a film made in the early 90's.

Overall, it was a great first effort for a newb filmmaker. With its flaws, I saw it to the end, and I enjoyed it. It's a well deserved 6/10 from me, and certainly not worthy of anything less than a 5/10, because new filmmakers have to start somewhere, right?

I have to be honest: the first 30% running time got me hooked, but it turned out to be a complete bust. Completely unbelievable characters, completely unbelievable story, complete lack of motive for major life-changing decisions... In short: complete utter garbage.

Side note: I find it really funny when millennials think they can mimic the 80's and the 90's, Would it ever cross the mind of anyone who lived through the 80's that any woman would have the nerve to just leave her Russian mob husband? These numb nuts screenwriters probably don't even know that before Madonna was a pop hit, women didn't even felt they had the right to be their own person. I bet the idiots who write these screenplays think that an internet search is the gold standard of research.

Production ,and very cliched portrayals and a russian mob story that ends with a status quo on the human level. its the average acted no big turnout on original ideas, more a reminder that russian mob crime still exists and the recipie for a good payback but it is still too straight forward and easy, so summa summarum...its a time filler. it has though a pretty good scoreline that feels like a clam on your hand all the time, but shootouts and high speed extravaganza is held at a low level. the filmmaker is to me a new name in the feature film league, so as a sophomore in the business it aint bad. they have made a reliable 1990's stamp to the product, not so easy to make these days so heir heir...

so i tend to look for glitches in the storyline and on russian culture and kutyme, so when a proud patriotic russian mobster serves sweedish absolute vodka to his friends ,thats a bummer., you have popov, smirnoff and kalinka and 10s of thousands more brands and you know what... poland has dubrovka and greece has the ouzo, so when did absolut become a sign of russian crime..

but its a timefilling crime action drama, nothing new on the east front in here, but its ålreit entertainment thinks the grumpy old man. dobroveche...

Could have been a good movie but the acting specifically the lead actor was terrible The directing was terrible as well

Its an Above average movie for a tuesday night! Matt Levett did a good job playing mike. The villans were convincing. The editing could have been better. I thought the movie was going to end several times, nope! It kept on going on and on. He showed interest in certain weapons but it never really mattered. Really no fighting here. Just big talk and shooting. Wheres the cops throughout this movie? Only one ha! Only 1 female with a strong role... but why is she walking around soo slow? Does she have back pain? Love it when the main characters get shot or stabbed, then 5 minutes later they are fully recovered. Gotta love hollywood. Next time im injured Im going there!

The main character, Mike, is an obvious Jax Teller rip-off from Sons of Anarchy, without the motorcycle club. Everything about this movie is just passable. The acting, the story, the cinematography. There's nothing here that you haven't seen before. Very mediocre.

Not a bad thriller, and made well, small budget but still - entertaining.

That's all this movie had. What a sloppy, thoughtless middle to ending movie.

Not bad for a Russian viewpoint We have seen so many Italian mob stories where we get into the private affairs of the leading parties so why not the Russians now. Leading man is set up goes to prison and finishes off all responsible while losing his wife Standard affair with some recognizable actors from other movie's especially the father from Taken 2 You know Marco from Tropoja. Enjoyable.

This is a clearly low budget b-movie with no name actors. I obviously wasn't expecting a masterpiece but something decent just to pass the time by. At first it seemed alright. Interesting premise, acting wasn't horrible, visuals looked ok, etc. But literally right after the protoganist jail scene the movie just went off the tracks.

Extremely slow and draggy, incoherent direction, plot holes, horrendous acting/dialogue, and cheap/cheesy shootouts. The ending was easyly one of the worst I had ever seen.

I would avoid this movie at all costs definitely not worth it to see it.

This story of a not-so wise guy persevering through his gritty lot in life is engagingly presented, with effective acting all around, especially on the part of the lead, who comes across as vulnerable and conflicted while the school of hard knocks develops his character into a force to be reckoned with in gangster land. The Russian mob atmosphere was captured well even while including romance and family relationships without trivializing those elements. The film grips and holds you throughout even in the absence of any budgetary fluff. It maintains the feel of realism, and doesn't shy away from a sappily ever after ending.

Supposedly a 2021 movie but has the look and feel of a 1980's B movie. Protagonist was poorly casted - to scrawny for the role.

I appreciated this film quite a bit. There's a bit of a low budget feel that gives a true sense of authenticity. I know the story is a bit of a rehash but it works for me. The performances all around are decent and the story moves along well. Thumbs up.

Enjoyed this fast-paced thriller and for me the minor characters really made the movie stand out vs a more generic revenge story. Lev Gorn (of the Americans fame), the gun dealer, Mike's bearded and gun-happy grandfather were all memorable. Definitely worth a watch on your streaming service of choice!

Meanders around but doesn't go anywhere. Didn't make it to the Walmart bargin bin. Investor kid in boiler room gets involved with the mob and it goes poorly.

The Godfather of the Russian mob scene on Brighton beach. Entertaining and suspenseful. Good watch.