Max Payne (Mark Wahlberg) is a cop whose family and partner are brutally murdered. He embarks on a maverick path, venturing into the underworld to find those responsible for the murders. Payne finds that he faces both very powerful enemies and betrayal.

Production

The 2001 video game Max Payne was optioned by the production company Collision Entertainment to produce a live-action film adaptation. By April 2002, distributors Dimension Films and Abandon Entertainment were attached to the project. Shawn Ryan, the creator of the television series The Shield, was hired to write a script for the planned film. By June 2005, without production starting, Collision Entertainment had taken the project to 20th Century Fox. In November 2007, with a script written by Beau Thorne, Fox announced John Moore as the director and Mark Wahlberg as the star in the titular role.

Filming began in Toronto on March 2, 2008 and wrapped by May 9, 2008. The film will be rated PG-13 in the United States, a departure from the M-rated video game series. Mila Kunis said of the tone-down, "It's incredibly dark. You still get the gist of it. The only difference between R-rated and PG-13 is you might not see as much blood. You might not see blood squirting everywhere, but as far as the sadness and the darkness of it and the distraught [nature] of these human beings is very much captured in the film."

Though filmed with the intention of receiving a PG-13 rating, Max Payne received an unofficial rating of R by the MPAA on September 5th 2008, which has resulted in a backlash from Moore.

As of September 22, 2008, a recent trailer has confirmed a PG-13 rating, for the following: "intense sequences of violence, some language, brief drug content, and brief sexual content including nudity."[citation needed] Director John Moore has also confirmed in an interview with GameDaily's John Gaudiosi that the film was awarded the PG-13 rating without any major changes being made to the film. Describing the re-editing process Moore stated, "We trimmed some frames more for the sake of trimming frames than anything, but we got the rating without any major changes at all."

Cast

    * Mark Wahlberg as Max Payne, a cop haunted by the murder of his family and who disregards rules to investigate their deaths. Wahlberg described his role, "It's probably one of the edgier roles I've played but also the most layered. Here's a very happy guy who worked a dismal job, had a beautiful family. But the beauty in his life was taken away. He just goes on a rampage. It's all driven by emotion."
    * Beau Bridges as B.B. Hensley, a former cop and Max Payne's mentor.
    * Mila Kunis as Mona Sax, an assassin who seeks revenge for the murder of her sister.
    * Chris "Ludacris" Bridges as Jim Bravura, an internal affairs agent.
    * Chris O'Donnell as Jason Colvin, an executive and Nicole Horne's "right-hand man".
    * Nelly Furtado as Christa Balder, wife of Alex Balder.
    * Kate Burton as Nicole Horne, CEO of Aesir corporation.
    * Donal Logue as Alex Balder, Max Payne's partner and best friend.
    * Amaury Nolasco as Jack Lupino, a mafia boss who becomes unstable due to the drug Valkyr