Every now and then a movie passes by me and I totally dismiss it out of lack of interest. Paycheck was one of those. When it was first released, It didn't sound all that great, so I ignored it. Then by chance I came across a DVD of this movie and decided to watch it. What a surprise! This is now one of my favorite sci-fi movies. Had I known that it was based on a short story by Phillip K. Dick, I might have paid more attention to begin with. Especially since he was the author of Minority report and Blade Runner (under the written title of "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?"). One of the most outstanding things about this film is that there is no bloody gore, no sex, and not a lot of strong language. It is very fast paced, filled with action and suspense, great acting, and includes some of todays finest actors. I thought it one of Uma Thurman's best performances, and Ben Afflick was at his best. I would highly recommend this DVD (which also has some great bonus materials) to anyone who is a Sci-fi fan and loves action movies, because it is both. An excellent movie! Paycheck
One always has great hope for a film script with Philip Dick parentage, but this film was a disappointment. John Woo is a talented director, but he is completely unsuited for this sort of film. The dark paranoiac style in Philip Dick's writing has not been used to greatest advantage in film except in 'Blade Runner', which ironically did not cling closely to the story, however, 'Paycheck' pushes alienation from the spirit of the story to new heights. Neither does 'Paycheck' show the humor or spirit, director Woo's films are famous for, leaving Paycheck's unnecessary and out of place chase scenes feeling like a death mask of a John Woo film.
From a performance perspective, Affleck and Thurman are ill matched romantically, with this casting choice made worse by director Woo's decision to play up the romantic aspects of the film. The supporting actors, particularly Aaron Eckhart turn in a strong performance however.
Despite the poor directing, miserable and underdeveloped script, lack of strength as either an action, or science fiction film, and an unhappy "near future" look that looks only Hollywoodish and phony, Paycheck is not a genuinely awful film, and someone satisfied with a generic commercial movie might not be too severely disappointed. I would not recommend purchasing this movie to anyone with a limited DVD purchase budget however.
I think people are being too critical of this film. It is very fun, and I thought it had a clever story line. You will be on the edge of your seat with it. If you watch this movie with the intent of entertainment, then you will really enjoy it. Just don't try and over analyze the science depicted; remember, it is just for fun. At the price Amazon has it for, it is worth owning if you are a movie collector.
The audio/video quality is very good too.
It seems this film's reputation may be suffering from incorrect genre identification. This is an ACTION drama with a futuristic twist. John Woo says the original story was SciFi, but he took "80% of that out" so he could make a more believable movie. (Perhaps it would've received kinder reviews if he'd left more in.) The characters ARE developed well enough to create interest & empathy. Perhaps not successful as SciFi, "Paycheck" is a decent action flick.
The actors all do an excellent job of staying real & interesting, but nobody goes over the top. Woo intentionally spreads the focus among the ensemble rather than making another Star-Driven vehicle. Oh, there are stars, and the villains do get edgy for sure; but there are no scene-stealing overacted performances. That's just fine - some of us just do not need to be visually assaulted by acting style in order to enjoy a performance. Ben Affleck continues in his understated 'regular guy' mode. Uma Thurman, fresh from her 'Kill Bill' gig, looks smart & tough, and that's exactly how she acts. If anybody in this cast does a very polished job with the action itself, it's her - BUT it's very believable & in character. She just may have become THE leading lady for sincere & skilled action. The supporting cast is excellent, the action is generally slugfest 'NFL' style instead of 'martial arts masters', and the principals do most of their own stunts.
The premise is handled in a believable way (much better than the typical time-travel stories which unravel) with well done tech-FX. Chases, explosions & other stunts abound, but don't overpower the story. The action is REAL live action, mercifully not blue-screen CGI overdone to death. (OK, there are 1 too many "mexican standoffs.")
The characters actually develop & portray relationships that don't require a lot of screaming, cursing & nudity to convey. Wow. Some of us LIKE that. John Woo did it that way on purpose, with homage/respect (= PROPS) to great films & directors who created memorable classics that way. It even bears repeated viewings. Hmm, wish there was a genre for THAT.
Paycheck is a pretty good scifi/action movie if you can turn off the logical part of your brain and ignore plot contrivances and bad guys that couldn't hit the broad side of a barn when they shoot. I'm like anybody else in that I wish Hollywood would do better, but until they do, I enjoyed this movie. Ben Affleck plays an engineer who takes jobs that result in him having his memory of what he did erased at the end. He takes on a 3 year project for an old friend thinking of the massive payday when its over. When the project is over he discovers he has signed away his rights to the money and left himself an envelope of seemingly useless objects instead. He uses the objects to piece togeher the mystery of just what he did for the last 3 years. The movie is at its best in the first half as you try along with Affleck to figure out what's going on. The second half humps up the action and the number of bullets that never find their target. Uma Thurman plays the love interest but isn't given all that much to do, nor is Paul Giamatti as a trusted friend. As for Affleck, I'm bored with this "let's all hate Ben Affleck" cult that has grown in the last few years. Will he win an Oscar? No, but his performance here was fine. No other actor would have done any more with the script as written. - Action - Drama - Mystery - Thriller'
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