Product Details

• Actors: Rip Torn, Ahna Capri, Elayne Heilveil, Michael C. Gwynne, Jeff Morris
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• VHS Release Date: September 21, 1999
• Run Time: 103 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00000JKN6
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #289,111 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rip Torn is never better!, September 3, 2000

By 

"skipmccoy" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Payday [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This film is so great, but it's certainly not for all tastes. I saw it for the first time a few months ago(in a rare screening) and have recently acquired the video and watched it again. Rip Torn is so good as country-western singer Maury Dann. This character is just evil, but evil in the kind of way that one can be fascinated by him. It's a great story in which you spend about a day and half with Maury, his band and his manager. There's lots of enjoyable behind-the-scenes type stuff(some of it is quite disturbing). If your a fan of films that might offend your sensibilities a little and you don't mind characters that aren't necessarily folks you'd want to join up with, you will enjoy this film. I sincerely hope it finds lots of new fans on video-it has all the makings of a cult classic.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Country and Western's "Almost Famous", April 13, 2004

By 

J. Reynolds (Houston, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Payday [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This movie never received the praise it merited. Rip Torn is fantastic as a sleezy second-rate C&W singer scrambling toward Nashville and not caring who he uses -- the scene in the car, you'll have to trust me, is exemplary of such lowlife individuals.

And what ever happened to Elayne Heilveil? She was as superlative in this flick as character Maury Dann was despicable.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Maury Dann is a Golden God !, April 29, 2002

By 

Comte de St. Germaine (Palo Alto, California United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Payday [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Incredibly good portrait of a mid-level country music star on a tour of the south. I mean if you're a musician and you've ever been on tour buy this. If nothing else the movie will crack you up. Maury Dann as played by Rip Torn is an irascible, dirty ... The beginning scene with the old time musicians (violinists, banjo players, guitars, etc.) in the hotel room is great in and of itself -- what follows only confirms this great scene. If you're a musician, if you like music, if you like movies, or you're a sociologist fascinated by the country music scene, you should check this movie out.
It's strange because i'm not a expert or nothing but, i think, in 100 years this movie will still be around. It is an expert, unflinching gaze at the degrading aspects of "celebrity."
Regarding the other reviewer's comment, I don't feel that Dann is evil -- the movie is much too realistic to fall into an easy moralistic framework. It almost runs like a documentary. You're here: buy it.