Review of Paranoia (2013) by Christopher H — 24 Aug 2013

Only entertaining on the most basic of levels, without its seasoned cast and glossy shine film quality, "Paranoia" would be, as the critics have already called it, "borderline unwatchable".

Touting a cast of Harrison Ford and Gary Oldman once again on opposing sides, and Liam Hemsworth with Amber Heard getting stuck in between these moguls, no one would have guessed the plot structure and delivery would not be anything less than amazing.

Instead, Robert Luketic's feature is stale and recycled, feeling like every other corporate espionage film that's ever been made. Mostly unbelievable and often contradictory, the jabs the film makes on worldwide surveillance are then brushed over to allow for the plot to carry on.

In particular the fact that all conversations are monitored on phones, whether the phone is on or not, would render the idea of a spy completely impossible. Which means there would be no possible way that Adam (Hemsworth) could infiltrate Goddard's (Ford) company without immediately being detected, especially as he runs back to the rival company.

The writing is surface level, relying on fixed stereotypes to get the viewer immediately involved rather than developing characters in a rich and exciting way. The film becomes so formulaic, that even the romance that blossoms is rendered unwanted.

With a veteran cast like Ford and Oldman, it takes a very bad script and poor execution to kill a film like "Paranoia".