Review of Paycheck (2003) by Rhonda C — 16 Jul 2012

Paycheck is a lesser Philip K. Dick adaptation, which isn't to say it's a bad movie, just that the field is crowded with Minority Report, Blade Runner, and Total Recall, which are all excellent films.

With Paycheck, we get a serviceable action film, with an excellent premise that is never fully explored. The film gets a bum rap because, for some reason, Ben Affleck The Actor isn't as well-liked as Ben Affleck The Director, and because Americans just don't love John Woo as much as his native land.

Woo can direct the shit out of an action scene, and his films all have some sort of bombastic dazzle (In this case it's a harrowing, lengthy motorcycle chase) that interrupts the plot. But Paycheck, unlike Woo's other American efforts, at least makes an attempt to craft an engaging plot before descending into scads of action scenes.

The problem is, once the action scenes hit, writer Dean Georgiaris seems to forget-at least in some small part-what he's supposed to be doing. At its' heart, this film is a decent morality play, and it brings up a lot of good philosophical points about knowing too much about the future.

Affleck actually manages to curb the smug routine he'd descended into during the late 90's / early 2000's, and his whiz-engineer Michael Jennings is a decently complex everyman hero. As his love interest, Uma Thurman fairs worse; she never seems quite certain how to play her character.

Fortunately, Aaron Eckhart is present, and he's in full scumbag mode, which he does wonderfully. When Eckhart's on camera, Paycheck improves marginally-one wishes he was in the film more. Still, minor failings and excessive action aside, Paycheck is a decently entertaining action film.

It sets out to tell a relatively complicated story, and manages to wrap things up in a tidy, cohesive package. It's easy to see this film, in more Indie-minded hands, becoming an unintelligible mess, so Woo's decision to make a big action film out of the material isn't the WORST direction Paycheck could have gone.

Though Woo is more interested in gunshots and explosions than he is with the philosophical ramifications of the plot, Paycheck still manages to bring up some decent, intelligent points. It's far from a smart action thriller, but Paycheck isn't really a dumb movie either.

Philip K. Dick fans could do much better, but action fans could do MUCH, MUCH worse.