 Media Credit: PAYCHECKMOVIE.COM
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After the box-office catastrophe
Gigli, it seems that Ben Affleck would do well to get himself a machine that could tell if a movie was going to be good or not. A machine that can predict the future is exactly what he gets in his new movie,
Paycheck.
Affleck plays Michael Jennings, an engineer who is hired to copy technology for competing companies. When he is finished, his memory is wiped so that he has no idea what he's done.
After taking the biggest job of his career, worth $100 million, he is forced to give up three full years of his life. But what's most confusing for Jennings is that, once he's finished and his memory is wiped, it seems as though he forfeited all his money for 19 personal items.
Once Jennings realizes that he has created an authentic fortune-telling machine, he goes on a mission to destroy it with the aid of the 19 items, each one used at key moments. His fiancée, Dr. Rachel Porter (Uma Thurman), also helps. Interestingly enough, he doesn't remember ever being engaged to her.
The movie is directed by John Woo, so you know that the action scenes are going to be good looking, and not very boring. The movie, nevertheless, has major shortcomings.
But the real problem with this movie lies at its core. Based on a K. Philip Dick short story,
Paycheck presents the audience with some really interesting concepts and ideas. In the end, though, it becomes more concerned with moving the story from one action scene to another. It's like there's all this filling, but the meat is missing.
K. Philip Dick's short stories have been adapted to the big screen many times. The last occurrence, Steven Spielberg's
Minority Report was probably the best one, both in visuals, and also in the way it dealt with the real issues and problems with predicting the future.
Paycheck is not half the movie
Minority Report was. It is a standard and uninspiring action movie with some good moments, but falling far short of the mark. If only they saw this one coming.
Info...
WHAT: Paycheck
STARRING: Ben Affleck, Uma Thurman, Aaron Eckhart
DIRECTED BY: John Woo
RATING: 2/5
