Paycheck
2003
Cast: Ben Affleck, Uma Thurman, Aaron Eckhart, Paul Giamatti, Joe Morton, Michael C. Hall
Genre: Science Fiction Action
Worldwide Box Office Gross: over $117 million
Plot: What seemed like a breezy idea for an engineer to net him millions of dollars, leaves him on the run of his life and piecing together why he's being chased
'Check, Please'
A poor man's Total Recall meets Minority Report, Paycheck follows the character of Michael Jennings, a reverse engineer who carries out the work for companies who want to copy and improve upon their rival's technology. To maintain confidentiality, Jennings must have his memory wiped out after each task is completed; with that, he is injected with a capsule that erases his thoughts. These assignments last a few months, after which he is rewarded with a big paycheck/cheque. Later on, when 3 years are up, it is discovered that as he is about to collect the money, Jennings is told he has forfeited the money and is instead sent an envelope containing a set of items. When he is arrested and interrogated by police and billionaire, Rethrick's team, he uses some of those items, as Jennings figures out why he didn't get paid. With the FBI on his back and armed with the envelope, he seeks to find out the truth.
From the writer of Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life and the Manchurian Candidate, Paycheck was initially considered to be directed by either Brett Ratner and Kathryn Bigelow, until John Woo sealed the deal. Based on a story by Philip K. Dick, who helmed Total Recall, under Woo's vision, it plays out as an action yarn, yet it also turns out that Paycheck is (one of) the most boring and weakest offerings, coming from the Hong Kong-born director.
Even with the lack of action scenes, the story must be good, right? Well, evidently no. John Woo is good at directing and focusing on action, but for Hard Boiled and The Killer, he doesn't have quite have a grip on the story aspect of movies, which are story-driven. Here, Woo is on autopilot as he turns Paycheck into a chase movie but with very little good action (the fight scenes were not bad) and a convoluted story that isn't deep enough, nor doesn't truly make any strides and is overshadowed and drowned out by car chases, gunfights, explosions, fights. The action scenes lack pizazz, as here Woo abandons his typical and obligatory visual flair and any potential for greatness goes to waste.
Blander than 1996's Broken Arrow, despite some of his trademark points, this is Woo's most generic film coupled with a not very grand supporting casting and the final result is a ropey and forgettable B-movie at most. Affleck is poorly cast, as is Aaron Eckhart and Uma Thurman in this vehicle,- although in Thurman, she does display some versatility in the action front, and thus she did go on one better in Kill Bill. Besides the uninspired casting, the film's biggest sin is that this is flat out dull. This is supposed to be a suspenseful yarn with some clever and meaningful twists & surprises: yet Paycheck doesn't manage to be it. The film's aspects fail to gel.
A 2000s Total Recall of sorts, Payback is further derailed by the cold chemistry of the mismatched pairing of Uma Thurman as a biologist and leading man, Ben Affleck: had it had better leads, then even with the shortcomings of the script, it might have given it that extra push and made it a tad more entertaining.
To note, Paycheck is also one of the few films to star a trio of actors with a Batman connection in Ben Affleck (Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice), Uma Thurman (Batman and Robin) and Aaron Eckhart (Harley Dent in Batman Begins).
Final Verdict:
This is John Woo at his lowest and most inoffensive on a creative scale, and with Paycheck flopping at the box office, it, unfortunately, marked the end of his Hollywood reign, after his breakthrough success, Hard Target in 1993. Much like with his Western output, bar Hard Target and Face/Off, it has its moments but due to its all-too-generic feel, Paycheck never manages to scale to even greater heights as one would expect from a director of his pedigree, who has been unquestionably one of Hong Kong action cinema's premier auteurs.
Alas, this, somewhat, serves as a hefty blemish on his career.
Overall:
2003
Cast: Ben Affleck, Uma Thurman, Aaron Eckhart, Paul Giamatti, Joe Morton, Michael C. Hall
Genre: Science Fiction Action
Worldwide Box Office Gross: over $117 million
Plot: What seemed like a breezy idea for an engineer to net him millions of dollars, leaves him on the run of his life and piecing together why he's being chased
'Check, Please'
A poor man's Total Recall meets Minority Report, Paycheck follows the character of Michael Jennings, a reverse engineer who carries out the work for companies who want to copy and improve upon their rival's technology. To maintain confidentiality, Jennings must have his memory wiped out after each task is completed; with that, he is injected with a capsule that erases his thoughts. These assignments last a few months, after which he is rewarded with a big paycheck/cheque. Later on, when 3 years are up, it is discovered that as he is about to collect the money, Jennings is told he has forfeited the money and is instead sent an envelope containing a set of items. When he is arrested and interrogated by police and billionaire, Rethrick's team, he uses some of those items, as Jennings figures out why he didn't get paid. With the FBI on his back and armed with the envelope, he seeks to find out the truth.
From the writer of Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life and the Manchurian Candidate, Paycheck was initially considered to be directed by either Brett Ratner and Kathryn Bigelow, until John Woo sealed the deal. Based on a story by Philip K. Dick, who helmed Total Recall, under Woo's vision, it plays out as an action yarn, yet it also turns out that Paycheck is (one of) the most boring and weakest offerings, coming from the Hong Kong-born director.
Even with the lack of action scenes, the story must be good, right? Well, evidently no. John Woo is good at directing and focusing on action, but for Hard Boiled and The Killer, he doesn't have quite have a grip on the story aspect of movies, which are story-driven. Here, Woo is on autopilot as he turns Paycheck into a chase movie but with very little good action (the fight scenes were not bad) and a convoluted story that isn't deep enough, nor doesn't truly make any strides and is overshadowed and drowned out by car chases, gunfights, explosions, fights. The action scenes lack pizazz, as here Woo abandons his typical and obligatory visual flair and any potential for greatness goes to waste.
Blander than 1996's Broken Arrow, despite some of his trademark points, this is Woo's most generic film coupled with a not very grand supporting casting and the final result is a ropey and forgettable B-movie at most. Affleck is poorly cast, as is Aaron Eckhart and Uma Thurman in this vehicle,- although in Thurman, she does display some versatility in the action front, and thus she did go on one better in Kill Bill. Besides the uninspired casting, the film's biggest sin is that this is flat out dull. This is supposed to be a suspenseful yarn with some clever and meaningful twists & surprises: yet Paycheck doesn't manage to be it. The film's aspects fail to gel.
A 2000s Total Recall of sorts, Payback is further derailed by the cold chemistry of the mismatched pairing of Uma Thurman as a biologist and leading man, Ben Affleck: had it had better leads, then even with the shortcomings of the script, it might have given it that extra push and made it a tad more entertaining.
To note, Paycheck is also one of the few films to star a trio of actors with a Batman connection in Ben Affleck (Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice), Uma Thurman (Batman and Robin) and Aaron Eckhart (Harley Dent in Batman Begins).
Final Verdict:
This is John Woo at his lowest and most inoffensive on a creative scale, and with Paycheck flopping at the box office, it, unfortunately, marked the end of his Hollywood reign, after his breakthrough success, Hard Target in 1993. Much like with his Western output, bar Hard Target and Face/Off, it has its moments but due to its all-too-generic feel, Paycheck never manages to scale to even greater heights as one would expect from a director of his pedigree, who has been unquestionably one of Hong Kong action cinema's premier auteurs.
Alas, this, somewhat, serves as a hefty blemish on his career.
Overall:
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