Great supporting cast and dialogue
While this is my favourite Mel Gibson's film, I gotta say that the movie wouldn't be so memorable without the great performances from the supporting actors and the excellent lines, dark humor at its best.
I'd even say Gregg Henry stole the movie, his character was so immoral and had so many politically incorrect lines that I couldn't help but love to hate Resnick lol. The actors who portrayed the dirty detectives and specially William Devane had great scenes too, and even Lucy Liu was very memorable in this despite having few lines.
I don't think I'm exaggerating by saying that Payback remake has some of the best one liners of all time in a movie. I don't know if the funnier lines were in the novel or in the original 1967 movie, but if they weren't, all I can say is that Brian Helgeland and Terry Hayes were very inspired when they created the screenplay, because it's brilliant.
A combination of great direction, script and cast makes this flick of the most enjoyable that I've ever watched. Even though I've watched this gem countless times, it never fails to entertain me on a new watch.