PAYCHECK: John Woo's Forgotten Film

PAYCHECK (DVD)

2003 / 118 min

FROM PARAMOUNT

Available at www.MovieZyng.com

Review by Princess Pepper😼

Legendary Hong Kong director John Woo certainly made a splash when he came to America, bringing his unique, over-the-top style to such action movies as Broken Arrow, Face/Off and Mission Impossible 2. Hell, he even managed to make Jean Claude Van Damme look good. 

Then came Paycheck, loosely based on a Phillip K. Dick story, which was not only a box office disappointment, it was met with negative reviews and has been largely forgotten. Even Woo himself wasn’t entirely happy with it. Maybe that’s why he wouldn’t direct another American film for 20 years.

But it ain’t that bad.

Granted, Paycheck largely eschews most of Dick’s high-minded themes and ideas to make room for all the gunplay, chases, explosions and destruction Woo’s known for. But the basic plot is still there, with Ben Affleck playing Michael Jennngs, a freelance reverse engineer who’s regularly hired by companies to infiltrate rivals’ existing technologies, then make improvements. Afterwards, he’s contracted to have any knowledge of the job erased from his memory.

Then old friend James Rethrick (Aaron Eckhard), the powerful CEO of Allcom, offers Michael a job to tempting to pass up. It will take three years, and all his memories accrued during that time will be erased, but he’d collect $92 million afterwards. However, when the job is finished, not only is he screwed out of the money, all he receives is an envelope of random objects he’s never seen before. Worse yet, he’s wanted by the FBI, while Rethrick has sent men to try and kill him.

Ben passes a kidney stone.

With no memory of the past three years, including a relationship with Allcom biologist Rachel Porter (Uma Thurman), all he has is the envelope, which he sent to himself and contains clues to what’s happening, as well as just the right things he needs to get out of various situations. He’s also plagued by visions…not of the past, but the future, all related to whatever he was hired to design, which Rethrick plans to use for nefarious purposes.

The whirlwind plot throws a lot at us, but it isn’t all that hard to follow. Still, the story often takes a backseat to the action sequences. Typical of John Woo, they’re slick, loud, flashy and frequently presented in slow-motion. Some are exciting and well-choreographed, others are distractingly ridiculous (such as a car/motorcycle chase at a construction site that’s set up like an obstacle course). As for the performances, Affleck is pretty bland, but Thurman has some good moments, while Eckhart’s inherently punchable face makes him a decent antagonist without having to try that hard. 

With it’s PG-13 rating, Paycheck feels kind-of benign compared to the director’s more hard-hitting films. But while it’s no Face/Off - arguably John Woo’s best American film - it’s certainly watchable (if somewhat forgettable). 

This is a re-issue of a previous released DVD. There are no technical upgrades or additional bonus features.