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Payday

Play trailer Poster for Payday R 1973 1h 43m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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63% Tomatometer 8 Reviews 78% Popcornmeter 250+ Ratings
Country singer Maury Dann (Rip Torn) lives life in the fast lane, counting on his rakish charm and raw talent to excuse his reckless behavior. Touring on the road in the rural south with his dedicated manager, McGinty; his loyal driver, Chicago; and his long-suffering girlfriend, Mayleen (Ahna Capri), Maury seduces groupies, brawls and breaks the law, brashly relying on his team to cover for him. Heedlessly alienating all those who care for him, Maury blindly keeps the pedal to the metal.

Critics Reviews

View All (8) Critics Reviews
Pauline Kael New Yorker Payday doesn't have an expressive style that says there's something more than Maury Dann's corruption. There's no rage in the film, and no sensibility that goes beyond awareness, except in a few flashes. Sep 12, 2023 Full Review Tony Rayns Sight & Sound Such consistent recourse to convention is especially sad to see in a first feature. Mar 27, 2020 Full Review Roger Greenspun New York Times It all seems unrealized, unrelated-like illustrative material for a movie not yet made. May 21, 2003 Full Review Russell Davies Observer (UK) Mr. Torn has got the cruel grin of moral nullity off to a fine art, and there is an equally excellent performance from Cliff Emmich. Sep 27, 2023 Full Review Michael Billington Birmingham Post It's the least sentimental account I've seen on film of a modern troubadou's existence: and it has a lot more individual style than the week's epic blockbusters. Sep 27, 2023 Full Review John J. Puccio Movie Metropolis ...the kind of film that's easy to admire but really hard to like. Rated: 6/10 Jan 13, 2008 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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delysid d a harrowing look into the life and soul of a country man! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 05/17/20 Full Review walter m In "Payday," Rip Torn takes advantage of a rare leading role and runs with it. In this film, he plays Maury Dann, a country musician, who is currently at a crossroads in his career. His manager Clarence(Michael C. Gwynne) advises him to take some time off in Nashville, where he can record a little, and maybe appear on Johnny Cash's show, after a concert in Birmingham, so as to avoid a process server who may be looking for him. Maury, by contrast, wants to continue the tour into New England. For the time being, all he wants to do after the concert is to drink beer and have sex. "Payday" is a modest character study of somebody who is not modest in the least, answering the question once and for all as to whether talent has any connection with how good a person is. For Maury, it all comes down to his past which he can never escape, either his mother(Cara Dunn) who he supports and visits occasionally or his children that he has lost touch with. This was also filmed at an interesting time for the South, just after it had recently integrated. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Payday more than lives up to its reputation, showcasing Torn's finest film performance, while screenwriter Don Carpenter and director Daryl Duke create an indelible portrait of the grimy, pointless life of a second-rate country performer, endlessly roaming the back highways of the American South. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review Audience Member 76% "Get your hands off my dog!"-Muary Dann (Rip Torn) Torn's best preformance. "You didn't earn it."-Muary Dann Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/17/23 Full Review Audience Member Why didn't I know about this? Kind of like "Crazy Heart" except it was made forty years earlier. Rip Torn manages to be despicable, pitiable, likable, and threatening all at once. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Audience Member Torn's toothy grin is a beacon of light in this, his best film. Playing Maury Dann, an unmitigated louse and an up and coming C&W singer, Torn gives us the unvarnished view of life on the road. This is what "You're Cheatin' Heart" should have looked like. And if you listen carefully, you will notice "She's Just a Country Girl" is replicated in at least one other film of the 70's: "The China Syndrome" when Fonda meets Jack Lemmon in a rural honky tonk to get the dirt on the nuclear power plant. This film has always been an unheralded masterpiece. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Payday

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Movie Info

Synopsis Country singer Maury Dann (Rip Torn) lives life in the fast lane, counting on his rakish charm and raw talent to excuse his reckless behavior. Touring on the road in the rural south with his dedicated manager, McGinty; his loyal driver, Chicago; and his long-suffering girlfriend, Mayleen (Ahna Capri), Maury seduces groupies, brawls and breaks the law, brashly relying on his team to cover for him. Heedlessly alienating all those who care for him, Maury blindly keeps the pedal to the metal.
Director
Daryl Duke
Rating
R
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (DVD)
Jan 8, 2008
Runtime
1h 43m