“PAYDAY”
Every once in a while you remember an old film and wonder if you actually saw it or just had this amazing dream of an incredible movie. And every once in a while an old film is mercifully released on DVD for a new generation to discover.
Today’s dream DVD release is Payday (1973), starring the overboard Rip Torn as an overboard country singer on a three-day binge of life on the road. Torn is incredible and very believable as he rolls through various towns balancing shows, ladies after him, band member disputes and criminal acts. Every inch of Don Carpenter‘s script feels real, from the internal band issues – they are friends one day and hate each other the next because of a pet dispute – to the heavy pressure felt by radio DJs the singer depends on for popularity. Torn had a run of extreme method performances alongside this gem, including Coming Apart (1969), Maidstone (1970) and The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976). Director Daryl Duke has another great lost film in The Silent Partner (1978).
Musician bio-pics are always fun, but they are even better when they go beyond realism. Original tagline: “If you can’t smoke it, drink it, spend it or love it… forget it.”
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Jeff Orgill
