Review of Paycheck (2003) by Private U — 04 Oct 2008

Although many claim Affleck just did this movie for the paycheck, I think on script it probably had potential. That's not to say what turned out on film is horrible, as it is not, but I think John Woo was not the best choice to direct this film, and in the end it could have been so much more.

Ben Afflect plays a computer engineer who creates new technologies, and then has his short term memory erased so he can't divulge any information on the project, or take any credit for it. He doesn't do this for free or course, and receives large sums of money for his part in it all.

Unfortunately something goes wrong, as when he wakes up from his last super secret project, one that would make him rich beyond his imagination, he learns that he gave the money away and instead asked to be mailed an envelope containing various random objects.

Now he must use the objects to figure out what happened in those last few years, and what went wrong. I thought the script was really well done, and as I mentioned before had lots of potential. Unfortunately Woo is good for action scenes, and action scenes only, and because of that all the heart and drama of the film doesn't unfold very well, and the sub par acting from all involved doesn't help either.

Which is sad considering the cast includes: Aaron Eckhart, Uma Thurman, Paul Giamatti, and Ben Affleck. Yes, Ben Affleck can act, quite well in fact if given the right material (Check out Hollywoodland).

I didn't hate the movie, and enjoyed it for the fun summer flick that it is, but I can't help but be disappointed that there was so much more in the script had it been directed by somebody different.