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Paycheck [2004]


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Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

The brainy, paranoid science fiction of writer Philip K Dick has inspired one visionary classic (Blade Runner) and two above-average action movies (Total Recall and Minority Report). Paycheck aspires to follow in their footsteps: an engineer (Ben Affleck) routinely agrees to have his memory erased after every job so that he doesn't know what he's done. But after the biggest job of his life, he discovers that not only has he refused a 90 million-dollar paycheck, he's sent himself an envelope full of things he doesn't recognise--and he doesn't remember doing any of this. As he unravels the plot, he discovers he's also fallen in love (with Uma Thurman) and invented a dangerous device for his former boss (Aaron Eckhart). Affleck is bland, the script ruins a cunning idea and the direction--from the normally dynamic John Woo--plods along, aimless and bored. --Bret Fetzer


Solid sci-fi actioner from John Woo
Review date: 2008-01-17 Rating: 8 out of 10

Sci-fi actioner directed by John Woo in which square-jawed Ben Affleck pays Michael Jennings, a gifted computer engineer who takes on secretive computer projects for corporations for large sums of cash with one catch: the corporations insist that after completing each assignment he must have his short-term memory wiped so that he remembers nothing of the work that he has done. Each assignment thus far has been short-term, lasting no more than eight weeks, so each time Jennings has had his memory wiped after completing an assignment he has lost no more than eight weeks of his life. But this time he has been offered an assignment by a company called Allcom for which he will be paid $92 million on its completion, enough to set him up for life. The problem? It is a long-term assignment, lasting three years, which means that he will have to lose three years worth of memories upon completion of the assignment. Jennings weighs up this cost but the money is just too much of an incentive and he agrees to do the assignment. However after completing the mystery assignment and having his last three years of memory wiped Jennings finds out that four weeks before his memory was wiped he sold his stock options in Allcom - meaning that he will not get any of the $92 million he was promised - and on top of that he is a wanted man: his former bosses at Allcom want him dead. But Jennings does not know why, as he has no memory of the past three years. With his life in the balance and with an envelope of clues and useful items that he left for himself four weeks before his memory was wiped Jennings manages to locate some allies: his friend Shorty (played by Paul Giamatti) and love interest and employee of Allcom Dr Rachel (played by Uma Thurman), and with their help sets out to uncover just what he was doing over the last three years - including why he gave up the $92 million - all the while trying to avoid assassination by hit men working for his former bosses at Allcom. What he discovers is that during his three missing years he built a machine that could very well mean the end of the world, a machine that must be destroyed at any cost. I found this to be a good sci-fi film from John Woo, with a strong plot and predictably good action and fight sequences. John Woo certainly knows how to put together a good movie, and the clues that Jennings has to decipher throughout the movie are very enjoyable, although I felt there could have been more of the theoretical physics behind the machine that Jennings builds addressed in the film. My only other complaint is that the climax to the movie does not quite have enough impact (although it almost does). Nonetheless this is a very good movie, so I give it 4 stars.



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Reviews


intriguing and brilliant
Review date: 2007-09-04 Rating: 8 out of 10

This film is good on so many levels. The acting is top-notch, if a little boring from Ben Affleck, but that doesn't matter. The effects are really good and the chase scene is great.

It is a greatly intriguing film and that increases my liking of it. There are some unlikely and unrealistic bits in the chase especially, but they wouldn't have bothered me if i hadn't watched it with two people who cannot sit through a film silently, without picking out the bad points.

It was really good, but i can only stand so long of Ben Affleck because i find his performance boring and he is quite expressionless. Watch this film, it is strongly recommended.

Paycheck
Review date: 2007-01-24 Rating: 10 out of 10

This movie is amazing. I'm really not normally into this kind of film, and i hated the 'Bourne' series. This film was edge-of-the-seat excitment. I have to agree with other reviews that the movie was slightly too long, but if you want to see a gripping action adventure movie, that keeps you guessing, get Paycheck.

seriously, it's worth it.

Paycheck: A Forgettable Future
Review date: 2006-07-08 Rating: 4 out of 10

Paycheck is a disappointing and sometimes frustrating film because it clumsily toys with a number of potentially brilliant ideas without really knowing what to do with them. These key concepts come courtesy of Philip K. Dick, via his original short story, though the film poorly represents the themes and conceits that have made his stories into unforgettable classics. As a thriller, Paycheck depends upon our identification with its imperiled hero, but the movie is never able to make us truly care about Ben Affleck's Michael Jennings or his fragile state of mind, and that's something Dick would have found unforgivable. Only Uma Thurman really earns her paycheck here. The premise is high concept, and the prophetic threat is revealed to be of apocalyptic proportion, but Paycheck is never more than a pedestrian action film spun from chains of meaningless chase sequences and flat fight scenes. The future world created by John Woo isn't nearly as engaging or convincing as, say, the captivating science fiction setting crafted by Stephen Spielberg for another high-profile Dick adaptation, Minority Report. For Paycheck, the comparison is not flattering. Sadly, Woo can't even keep himself from forcing his own creative preoccupations into the film, and a resulting motorcycle chase sequence is outright uninspired and may represent the film's low. Some scenes are enjoyable, and there are fleeting flashes of wit and excitement, but much of what unfolds seems inappropriately conceived or placed. Paycheck isn't a smart film and, what's more, it sometimes assumes that its audience isn't even paying attention. As a result, the film never comes close to living up to its potential. The material and the audience deserve better. Unfortunately, Paycheck is forgettable fare and, truly, it is without any real payoff.

--Brian A. Dixon
Revelation Magazine

Paycheck
Review date: 2006-01-10 Rating: 2 out of 10

If I could have had my memory erased for the 2 hours I watched this film I would be a happy girl. The acting and diaologue in the film was poor, the plot had potential but it never really took off from the opening scene. Don't waste your time on this film

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Aaron Eckhart
Michael C. Hall
Paul Giamatti
Ben Affleck
Uma Thurman

Creators:
Ben Affleck (Primary Contributor)
Aaron Eckhart (Primary Contributor)
John Woo (Producer)
Arthur Anderson (Producer)
Caroline Macaulay (Producer)
David Solomon (Producer)
John Davis (Producer)
Dean Georgaris (Writer)
Philip K. Dick (Writer)

Director(s):

Recording label: Dreamworks Home Entertainment
Manufacturer: Dreamworks Home Entertainment
EAN: 5051188141332
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Anamorphic, PAL,
Release date: 2004-05-17
Number of discs: 1
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 114 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2003-12-25
Language: English (Subtitles For The Hearing Impaired)
Language: English (Original Language)

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