Paycheck

John Woo's smart thriller Paycheck may not intend to be political, but it's marked as much by its era as post-Watergate thrillers like "The Parallax View" or "Three Days Of The Condor."

Slick and slight.

Woo's customary action-film pyrotechnics gather more substance than usual from the implausible but inventive plot, drawn from a Philip K. Dick story.

Surprisingly . . . ept given that it is basically a dumb movie about smart people. This smooth but bland thriller may be the best we could expect from such a collaboration.

Unfortunately, after watching Paycheck, you may wish you had the picture's gimmickry at your disposal, so you could erase your own memory of it.

The story, adapted by Dean Georgaris, doesn't come within a light year of science-fiction plausibility, and after a while Woo gives up trying to sell it and reverts to the action choreography that made him a master of Hong Kong martial-arts movies.

Represents such a professional nadir for each of its principals that you wish better for them in the new year.

Well scripted and well acted worth a watch It just needs a hd update and the film would fit well in today’s viewing

When I first saw this film I didn't even know it was a Philip K. **** short story. The movie came out almost 12 years ago but it didn't seem so far off until I realized I didn't remember why he’s being chased. I remembered some of the action scenes and the mystery solving so in my mind it looked more like an action than sci-fi movie. The plot is basically centered around the action, the car chases, gunshots, and explosions - not at a Michael Bay level - but still a very action-centered movie. It made the characters looks quite one-dimensional It's funny how this futuristic sci-fi movie is a bit off. I mean the movie doesn't really hold up today. It's still a good science fiction - I meant action - story and I enjoyed watching it, maybe even more now that I recognize all of the supporting cast, but parts of the movie looked...fake I guess, or like it was made in the 80s instead of the 00s. Paycheck was awesome when I saw it as a kid, it’s still a pleasant movie to watch but it’s definitely not a film for a nitpicking audience. @wornoutspines

Comme trop souvent avec les excellentes nouvelles de Philip K. **** adaptées au cinéma, on finit par se manger un simple film d’action à la con… pas totalement à la con bien sûr, car la base est (quand même) respectée mais son développement et son implémentation sans intelligence et sans conscience mènent quasiement à la ruine de l’oeuvre originelle. Dommage !Ben Affleck l’affligeant n’y aide pas non plus, ni Uma Thurman qui balade son petit cul de milf et puis c’est tout. Quant à John Woo, il délivre un film hollywoodien bien formaté, tout à fait correct mais loin de ses standards de Hongkong, bien évidemment. Paycheck se laisse donc regarder grâce à son idée de départ géniale (merci ****) mais sans plus !

It's difficult at this point to dislike a Philip K. **** story, but even the mighty John Woo manages it with incredibly low expectations. The major problem is the lead, Ben Affleck, who is about as likable and charismatic as a wet blanket. Uma Thurman and Paul Giamatti give honest performances, but they aren't enough to save the lifeless plot. There's little to care about such an action film such as this one which takes its drama so seriously.

This adaptation of a Philip K. **** short story tries so hard to get things just right that it's almost embarrassing to watch it fall down a steep set of stairs in the second act. Ben Affleck is at his Gigli-esque worst, displaying a grand total of two emotions as the genius-level intellectual who's willing to wipe all memory of his work after each finished assignment in exchange for a few extra bucks. Affleck doesn't deserve the full blame for this film's failings, though, as even Uma Thurman and Aaron Eckhart can't perform any miracles with a script so overcooked. Stiff, senseless dialogue, uncomfortably dated pop culture references and an inherently flawed plot may have doomed it before the first role was cast. John Woo brings the goods during a few meaty action scenes, but even those suffer from a loose interpretation of physics, a series of facepalm-worthy resolutions and a star who's simply not believable as the action hero he plays. The high-concept introductory chapter works very well, but once this film sheds the skin of **** imagination and tries to take a few steps on its own, it stumbles in a series of bad directions.