The source material that provided Lee Marvin with an unforgettable role in John Boorman's critically acclaimed Point Blank (Donald E Westlake's The Hunter, written under the pseudonym Richard Stark) is here expertly recycled for the solid directing debut of LA Confidential writer Brian Helgeland. Mel Gibson stars as violent antihero Porter, a professional thief who seeks revenge when his wife and crime partner double-cross him during a hold-up of some Chinese gangsters and leave him for dead. Things get messy when his quest to retrieve his share of the loot puts him in contact with high-ranking crime bosses and bent cops. Helgeland handles the high-octane action with flair, intelligence and lethal doses of sardonic wit to deliver a cool-as-ice thriller with a very dark and violent centre.

With friends like these, who needs enemies? That's the question bad guy Porter is left asking after his wife and partner steal his heist money and leave him for dead -- or so they think. Five months and an endless reservoir of bitterness later, Porter's partners and the crooked cops on his tail learn how bad payback can be.