Paycheck (2003)

Director:

John Woo

Writers (WGA):

Philip K. Dick (short story)
Dean Georgaris (screenplay)

Release Date:

25 December 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi | Thriller | Action | Mystery

Tagline:

Remember the future.

Plot:

What seemed like a breezy idea for an engineer to net him millions of dollars, leaves him on the run for his life and piecing together why he's being chased.

Plot Keywords:

Evil Corporation | Seeing The Future | Yin Yang | Chekhov's Gun | Biologist

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

US TV Schedule:

Fri. Aug. 29

2:30 AM

TBS

Cast

Ben Affleck	...	Michael Jennings
Aaron Eckhart	...	James Rethrick
Uma Thurman	...	Dr. Rachel Porter
Paul Giamatti	...	Shorty
Colm Feore	...	John Wolfe
Joe Morton	...	Agent Dodge
Michael C. Hall	...	Agent Klein
Peter Friedman	...	Atty. Gen. Brown
Kathryn Morris	...	Rita Dunne
Ivana Milicevic	...	Maya-Rachel
Christopher Kennedy	...	Stevens
Fulvio Cecere	...	Agent Fuman
John Cassini	...	Agent Mitchell
Callum Keith Rennie	...	Jude, Guard
Michelle Harrison	...	Jane

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for intense action violence and brief language.

Runtime:

119 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | Dolby

Certification:

South Korea:15 | Malaysia:18SG | Switzerland:14 (canton of Zurich) | Iceland:14 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Brazil:14 | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Finland:K-15 | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIA | Ireland:15 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:12 (canton of the Grisons) | UK:12A (original rating) | UK:12 (video rating) (2004) | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Burrard SkyTrain Station, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

DreamWorks SKG

Trivia:

Michael Jennings monitor project was 19 October 2004 to 22 December 2004 (date of his check). His paycheck project finishes June 2007 (date of his signed paper).

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: During the fight in the mall, when Jennings is kicked through a window, we see the envelope and it looks flat. Yet moments later, he takes out the round container of hairspray.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Holographic Woman: It's time to wake up... and get a life. We live in a 3-dimensional world. Until now, the world of computing has been a flat world, consisting of 2-dimensional imagery. Now, through the use of exclusive breakthrough technology, ARC has made it possible for you to get a life. A-Life, where we can work and play in a lifelike world of 3-dimensional reality. A-Life, the living monitor.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Will & Grace: Whatever Happened to Baby Gin? (#8.22)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

Minute Waltz in D Flat Major Op. 64 No. 1

Good action but the gimmick is difficult to accept because it continually forces you to accept it

Michael Jennings is a reverse engineer who, in exchange for big money, takes items apart in order to rebuild them for other companies. After every job his memory is wiped back to the moment he started the job. When he is offered a massive payday to do a three-year job for friend James Rethrick he accepts. Next thing he knows it is three years later and the job done. He goes to collect his money but finds that he has waived his right to it and replaced it with a package full of strange objects. When he is set up with the FBI he goes on the run and realises that the objects are all clues or aids in his mission - a mission that he himself has arranged.

There's nothing quite like a good action movie that allows you to accept whatever the plot is as it presents good solid action. This film almost manages it and it is ironic that the concept from Dick is what weakens it. The plot is a bit of a stretch but once you accept it you can move on - like Face/Off, once you get the idea and accept it you can enjoy the action. However with Paycheck you are only left alone for 10 minutes before you have to accept the stretched plot all over again. Every time an item perfectly fits a situation you have to accept the whole concept over again. The problem is that the items are far too specific. With the lottery number strip it works, however with the paperclip and the bullet it is too much of a stretch and took the enjoyment off the action a bit.

Happily it is only a bit. The plot as an idea works pretty well but has been done better elsewhere (Bourne Identity and Total Recall for example) it is presented too full of holes that appear with the slightest picking. It would have been much better if the items had been bigger in terms of meaning rather than very specific (e.g. the lighter and hairspray), bigger clues and so on would have been better. However the action is still pretty good, not quite classic Woo but full or good touches. The film has a good steady pace to it and it keeps it up for the majority - very quickly getting through the set up and jumping to three years hence. The action is enjoyably slick and makes good use of effects; true, some of the set ups in the scenes is stretched, and some of the stuff about the weapons is just dumb (a fired bullet with it's casing, a bullet being fired by a thick piece of metal etc), however if you can accept the plot then I imagine accepting that Woo often takes style over substance shouldn't be a problem.

The cast is so-so despite having a surprising amount of famous faces. Affleck is better than usual; because he is quite ordinary he plays an everyman pretty well and it is easy to see him as a `normal' guy. Eckhart is reasonably good but he has limited screen time. It's good to see him in big films like this as he is an interesting guy, but I hope he doesn't just turn off his skills. Giamatti is in the film briefly and is OK comic relief but Thurman has been miscast. She does most of the film pretty well but her early scenes as an expert biologist are laughable she is so inept! The support cast features a really good turn from Feore as well as good roles from Morton and the wonderful Hall - although the roles are practically cameos.

Overall this is an enjoyable little action movie but it is ironic that the story is both interesting and the film's weak point. The items are too specific and, each time Jennings uses one, it forces the audience to accept the unlikely premise all over again. Worth seeing for enjoyable action delivered by a director who recovers some of his form here.