Customer Reviews

Paycheck [VHS Video]

5 star:		(45)
4 star:		(44)
3 star:		(37)
2 star:		(35)
1 star:		(29)

 

 

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!

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.

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.

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 seems this film's reputation may be suffering from incorrect genre identification. This is an ACTION drama with a futuristic twist. John Woo says the original story was SciFi, but he took "80% of that out" so he could make a more believable movie. (Perhaps it would've received kinder reviews if he'd left more in.) The characters ARE developed well enough to create interest & empathy. Perhaps not successful as SciFi, "Paycheck" is a decent action flick.

The actors all do an excellent job of staying real & interesting, but nobody goes over the top. Woo intentionally spreads the focus among the ensemble rather than making another Star-Driven vehicle. Oh, there are stars, and the villains do get edgy for sure; but there are no scene-stealing overacted performances. That's just fine - some of us just do not need to be visually assaulted by acting style in order to enjoy a performance. Ben Affleck continues in his understated 'regular guy' mode. Uma Thurman, fresh from her 'Kill Bill' gig, looks smart & tough, and that's exactly how she acts. If anybody in this cast does a very polished job with the action itself, it's her - BUT it's very believable & in character. She just may have become THE leading lady for sincere & skilled action. The supporting cast is excellent, the action is generally slugfest 'NFL' style instead of 'martial arts masters', and the principals do most of their own stunts.

The premise is handled in a believable way (much better than the typical time-travel stories which unravel) with well done tech-FX. Chases, explosions & other stunts abound, but don't overpower the story. The action is REAL live action, mercifully not blue-screen CGI overdone to death. (OK, there are 1 too many "mexican standoffs.")

The characters actually develop & portray relationships that don't require a lot of screaming, cursing & nudity to convey. Wow. Some of us LIKE that. John Woo did it that way on purpose, with homage/respect (= PROPS) to great films & directors who created memorable classics that way. It even bears repeated viewings. Hmm, wish there was a genre for THAT.

Paycheck is a pretty good scifi/action movie if you can turn off the logical part of your brain and ignore plot contrivances and bad guys that couldn't hit the broad side of a barn when they shoot. I'm like anybody else in that I wish Hollywood would do better, but until they do, I enjoyed this movie. Ben Affleck plays an engineer who takes jobs that result in him having his memory of what he did erased at the end. He takes on a 3 year project for an old friend thinking of the massive payday when its over. When the project is over he discovers he has signed away his rights to the money and left himself an envelope of seemingly useless objects instead. He uses the objects to piece togeher the mystery of just what he did for the last 3 years. The movie is at its best in the first half as you try along with Affleck to figure out what's going on. The second half humps up the action and the number of bullets that never find their target. Uma Thurman plays the love interest but isn't given all that much to do, nor is Paul Giamatti as a trusted friend. As for Affleck, I'm bored with this "let's all hate Ben Affleck" cult that has grown in the last few years. Will he win an Oscar? No, but his performance here was fine. No other actor would have done any more with the script as written.

Critics panned this movie but I think they missed the point: entertainment. Good guys vs. bad guys; the ability to see into the future; car chases; who's zooming who? Although John Woo is not as frenetically motivated in this one, I found it interesting and involving.
Ben Affleck, who will probably never have an Oscar on his mantle, portrays the hero Michael Jennings with a reserved and pensive demeanor. I think he captures the confusion of his situation quite well, and while he may appear "bland," I think Woo wanted Affleck to be more enigmatic than adventurous. Uma Thurman does a nice pre Kill Bill job as Jennings' main squeeze and the delightfully acerbic Aaron Eckhart conveys smooth evil very well. Eckhart is one of those actors whose time will eventually come. Add Paul Giamatti, Joe Morton, Michael C. Hall and Colm Feore, and you have a dandy supporting cast.
Fast-paced, at times confusing, PAYCHECK delivers the goods in a stylish and enjoyable manner.

What a minute. Lets not trash this movie. Instead, lets look at the glass as half full and not half empty. For one, this is a good old-fashioned suspense/action (science fiction!) movie, with no cartoonesque quality, no larger-than-life stuff, and only a teeny-weeny bit of camp. Philip K. Dick is THE man for science fiction in our lifetimes, and even if they messed with the story, it still is better than 95% of the crap out there.

It is well acted, coherent, and perhaps best of all for me, a real example of a science fiction film, as we like it, and not some over exaggerated bit of nothing. This is straight-ahead science fiction. Despite its flaws, I only wish I could find one movie of this quality a month. I liked it.


-- Michael Erlewine, Founder of the All-Movie Guide (allmovie.com)

It's funny how great ideas can come from the most unexpected places. John Woo is known for his high-energy action films and not for innovative science fiction. Paycheck delivers on the latter, but in a smaller dose. It's more an action/suspense movie anyway, but if you focus on what the movie is you will end up pleasantly surprised by what it turns into later on.

The plot is an interesting twist on the whole man-on-the-run type theme we have seen in movies like Minority Report. And like Minority Report it delves into seeing into the future. Thankfully the similarities stop at the future seeing and hero chasing elements. While the theme is rather simple and even derivative the details around it make for an interesting show. Having our hero not know what he did for the past three years and only having a pocket full of items he left himself is a nice touch, even if the previews made it sound better than that. While the execution of the script is all well and good you don't get to the really good stuff until further into the film when Ben Afleck finds out why he is in trouble to begin with. Not only does this become a fascinating plot twist it makes the entire movie come together as an innovative story.

This being a John Woo movie I am sure many of you are expecting lots and lots of action. Well it's not a full throttle John Woo movie in the action department. Don't get me wrong. There is a really exciting motorcycle chase scene and near the end you get a sweet fight sequence. There just isn't as much action in Paycheck as there are in Woo's other films. That's actually a good thing since you get more background into the story itself that wouldn't be there.

There is one thing that sticks to my craw about this movie and that's Ben Afleck. Don't get me wrong. I think he did do this role well... technically. It's just I didn't feel drawn into the character at all. I wasn't convinced I was seeing Mike Jennings struggling through his predicament, just Ben Afleck. Uma and the rest did a fine job though. Sorry Ben. Technically speaking the movie is tight and you get some dynamic camera angles as well as some other neat cinematography tricks. It all makes the movie quite stylish, which seems to be another of john Woo's trademarks.

Paycheck has elements in it that make it a truly fascinating movie, but you have to wait for it. For those of you who enjoy a good time paradox story I believe the wait is worth it. If you can get past that (as well as Ben Afleck's average performance) then you should be able to get the most out of Paycheck.

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.