91 Seconds on Film

Paycheck

Review by Ian Solla-Yates

Paycheck has very little going for it. When adapted from Phillip K Dick’s short story, more effort was placed on beefing the film up with action scenes and sappy dialogue than exploiting the genuinely interesting premise. A couple of effortless performances by stars Ben Affleck and Uma Thurman also help to mediocritize the story. This film is basically a sci-fi flick with tons of unimaginative stunts thrown in, for instance a stretched out chase scene that culminates when a car collides with a metal tube.

The original story is rather appealing. It takes place a few years in the future and follows an engineer who professionally rips off corporations by stealing their inventions. At the end of each job, his memory is erased and he receives a large paycheck. Trouble comes when he finishes a job he’s not happy with and finds himself as a wanted man with no memory of why. Unfortunately the story is understated in favor of action which makes Paycheck look more like The Bourne Identity starring Ben Affleck.

Paycheck is a film to be written off as just another dumb action flick without any redeeming aspects save the stifled story. All of the dialogue is either ridiculously unnatural or appallingly saccharine. Considering the talent involved in this movie - John Woo, Phillip K Dick and its stars - there is no reason for this movie to be so bad. Ben Affleck’s stock is falling quickly, this is far from an atonement for Gigli.