Affleck and Woo Void Paycheck
All Hype, No Drama

The promise of another film adaptation of a Philip K. Dick story interested me. I have been a big fan of his short stories, novels, and films such as Blade Runner, Minority Report, and even (though not as good) Total Recall. I have not read the short story "Paycheck" so I was going into this film expecting nothing. And that's exactly what I received.

Paycheck is a rather blasé plot. Set in an indeterminate future that looks a lot like the present, the story revolves around a young engineer named Michael (Ben Affleck) who has a talent for reverse engineering. He takes apart the competition's work, revamps it with a new design, and patents it as his own. Then, when the confidential work is finished, he volunteers to have his short-term memory erased so he forgets the project. In exchange, he is paid very well. The film doesn't delve into the morality of stealing other people's work, and Michael doesn't seem particularly troubled by his occupation.

As happens with this kind of story, everything hinges on a "big score." An old associate of Michael's named Rethrick (Aaron Eckhart) offers him an eight figure salary and stock options for a huge project that will cost Michael three years of his life. After the project is over, Michael will be rich, but he won't remember anything about what he did to earn the money. When the job is finished, however, he finds that he has forfeited $92 million in exchange for an envelope of seemingly random items that may be clues to what he did for the last three years.

Aside from Affleck and Eckhart, the film also co-stars Uma Thurman as Rachel, a biologist employed by Rethrick. Thurman does an excellent job, but after seeing her last film, I kept expecting her to pull out a katana and go Kill Bill on somebody. Although she isn't exactly a damsel in distress, she certainly isn't a strong character.

For comedic relief, Paul Giamatti appears as Shorty. Shorty's character is hard to describe. In the beginning of the film, he is assisting with Michael's memory wipe. By the middle of the film, he's nothing more than an incidental character who Michael can talk to in order to relate some expository material. By the end of the film he works in a flower shop (or owns it, it's unclear). Either way, it's enough to make audiences confused. Sadly, it's a waste of a great supporting actor.

What director John Woo did for Paycheck is uncertain. This didn't look like a John Woo film. The action is bland and generic. Gone are the trademark Woo touches that we saw in Mission: Impossible II . There is one decent motorcycle chase, but even that lacks any real heart-pounding moments. This film just doesn't have the action or impact which one would expect from an acclaimed action director. Instead, audiences get a luke warm effort that looks like something Woo did on his day off.

Likewise, this film lacks the futuristic vision of last year's Minority Report. Although we are asked to accept some futuristic elements, such as holographic computer displays and memory wipes, we see no impact of future tech on the rest of the world. Vehicles are standard generic cars and motorcycles, people use ordinary keys on ordinary locks, guns fire bullets, and people still smoke in public buildings. Even more ridiculous is the early premise that Michael is hired to steal a virtual, three-dimensional monitor, when the equipment he uses to do it is more high tech than the monitor itself!

For people who love science fiction stories, I give this a minor recommendation. It offers a couple of nice twists that make watching it on a Saturday afternoon worthwhile.

MY RATING: 4 out of 10.

RATED: PG-13
RUN TIME: 110 min.