In a futuristic but familiar world, a high-tech engineer whose memory has been partially erased must use a group of unrelated objects, including a wire, a ticket stub and a bus token as clues to discover the truth about hi... more »s previous identity, and collect a paycheck he had been awaiting. Based on the short story by science fiction author Phillip K. Dick.« less
Some like this and others don't finding it to have an all over the grid plotline leaving you unsatisfied.
Movie Reviews
Paycheck- Mostly Enjoyable
Daniel K. | Maryland, USA | 12/31/2003
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Paycheck, the new sci-fi action thriller from John Woo delivers some great action and entertains on a high scale. Ben Affleck is better, (eagerly trying to redeem himself after the huge debacle of Gigli). Uma Thurman does just fine and Joe Morton and Paul Giamatti shine.
Now the premise of this film might throw you off, but it shouldn't. Knowing that this film is based on the work of Philip K. Dick who wrote Blade Runner, Minority Report and Total Recall you can expect something new. The film while similar to The Bourne Identity definetly has its differences. In fact, Matt Damon was originally offered the lead role in Paycheck but he declined because he said it was too similar to his role in The Bourne Identity.
Essentially, Affleck plays Mike Jennings, a big computer engineer. His clever mind has enabled him to make a new program. Mike is soon offered a huge job offer by his good friend Jimmy Rethrick (Aaron Eckhart). After he's done the job he gets a huge paycheck, hence the title of the film. But his memory but be erased, and so he'll have no recollection of what his job was, since it is very secretive and confidential. After his memory is erased he soon learns he has a girlfriend, played by Uma Thurman. She along with his good friend Shorty played nicely by Paul Giamatti are the only ones he can trust.
Though the movie isn't as predictable as it may seem, it does build up with some suspense. And as I stated earlier it delivers with the typical action of a John Woo flick. From here we get a great BMW motorcycle chase, (similar to M:I-2, though it's hard to say which was better) along with some other action sequences.
Paycheck is rated PG-13 for Intense Action Violence and Brief Language. The violences includes mainly gunplay, fistfights and explosions. Language is extremely mild. There's
also some sexual innuendo, but not explicit. All in all, a good movie to see over the holiday. Worth viewing in theatres and possibly owning on video or DVD."
Fun & action packed
Eric Townsend | Post Falls, ID United States | 01/04/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"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 TOOK ME BY SURPRISE!
J. Redbird | Tucson, AZ United States | 10/18/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"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!"
Commodity film......
D. Bowen | Crawford, NE USA | 11/26/2005
(3 out of 5 stars)
"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."
GUESS I MISSED ALL THE BAD PARTS!
M. Hartmann | Milan, Michigan United States | 03/14/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is one movie I thoroughly enjoyed - a bit of humor - a bit of mystery to be unraveled - lots of action - but where did those blonds get such retched hair-dos.
Michael Jennings agreeing to a memory erase was a bit spooky - who really wants to lose part of your memory?
It was fun to find out that Jennings got a glimpse of his future and knowing that his memory would be erased, he left himself a group of personal clues - he just had to figure them out.
I liked the chase scenes whether on foot or car [motorcycle] - the characters [all of them] were excellent and believable.
Aaron Eckhart was excellent as the heavy and the humor of some of the Feds enhanced the story.
Don't listen to any one else - this is a movie that may appeal to your tastes - so make your own decisions as to whether you like it or not.
I will recommend it to those who like entertainment and don't care to pick a movie apart. I will watch it again just to see what I missed. I thought the characters and story thoroughly enjoyable."