Paycheck (2003)
Average Rating: 4.7/10
Reviews Counted: 154
Fresh: 42 | Rotten: 112
Though Dick's short story has an intriguing premise, Woo reduces it to a lot of meaningless chases, shoot-outs, and explosions.
Average Rating: 4.4/10
Critic Reviews: 33
Fresh: 4 | Rotten: 29
Though Dick's short story has an intriguing premise, Woo reduces it to a lot of meaningless chases, shoot-outs, and explosions.
liked it
Average Rating: 2.9/5
User Ratings: 145,585
My Rating
Movie Info
John Woo directs the sci-fi action thriller Paycheck, based on a story written by Philip K. Dick in 1953. Waking up with his short-term memory erased, engineer Michael Jennings (Ben Affleck) learns that he has been doing highly secretive work for the last three years in exchange for billions of dollars. But when he tries to get paid, he finds out that he himself had previously exchanged the money for an envelope of random clues to his life. Chased by an FBI agent (Michael C. Hall) and his old
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Cast
-
Ben Affleck
Michael Jennings -
Aaron Eckhart
Rethrick -
Uma Thurman
Rachel Porter -
Paul Giamatti
Shorty -
Colm Feore
Wolf -
Joe Morton
Agent Dodge -
Michael C. Hall
Agent Klein -
Kathryn Morris
Rita Dunne -
Michelle Harrison
Jane Anderson -
Fulvio Cecere
Agent Fuman -
Ivana Milicevic
Maya-Rachel -
Emily Holmes
Betsy
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All Critics (155) | Top Critics (33) | Fresh (45) | Rotten (119) | DVD (39)
There's a sense of treading water about this movie.
Top CriticWithout ever quite becoming boring, Paycheck seems to narrow into a routine pattern, and a plot that at first had nuance and the hint of a broader meaning degenerates into chases and standard action.
You may not buy everything about this movie, but you'll likely leave it with a smile.
If a movie is going to flout, or at least bend, the laws of the universe, it at least ought to obey its own internal rules.
[Woo] still has pretty much of a tin ear for American performances, so he lets Affleck doze through the starring role. The film feels as if it has no center.
Though the premise is provocative enough, the execution feels like a host of other violent action-drenched movies.
Woo's stylish touches fall flat in this forgettable project
This movie just sags, even in the action scenes.
It's not necessarily high brow sci-fi, but it is very accessible to the mainstream eye.
This is a movie that tries to look and sound great. It can only manage a microscopic amount of both.
...where Woo takes over as an action director...from then on it's all shoot, run, fight, and chase. (Blu-ray Edition)
Paycheck takes two hours to watch and two minutes to forget.
Playful but inconsequential...the interpretation of Dick's intriguing concept is a street which mostly just dead-ends into noisy silliness. [Blu-ray]
"Paycheck" is a no-brainer action movie with just enough sci-fi thematic input to keep it spicy.
Most of it is very predictable and so obvious and instantly draws us away from the characters because everything here feels very artificial and very staged.
For those who enjoy a ripper of a good yarn, Paycheck is good value.
Bears the mark of Woo
Some remedial script work is in need, and the characters are far from compelling. But the action is up to scratch and it rattles happily along.
It's nice to know that there's a director out there who still knows how to use marquee stars and to blow stuff up real good, without resorting to CGI fakery.
Paycheck is John Woo lite.
A mildly entertaining slice of science fiction that's anchored by some top-notch action.
The film discards serious discussion for Mexican standoffs and action scenes, trading the possibility of complex rewards for simple pleasures.
Audience Reviews for Paycheck
Super Reviewer
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- Rita Dunne: My name is McBeth, bitch! And I'ma gonna fuck you!
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- Michael Jennings: If you only look where you can't go, you might just miss the riches below.
Discussion Forum
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August 31, 2006:
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August 8, 2006:
Paul Giamatti to Star as Philip K. DickHe night not be as famous as H.G. Wells or Isaac Asimov, but ask a sci-fi enthusiast what they think...
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The film plays out with Affleck (yes -_-) as a 'reverse engineer' who...actually I still have no idea really what he is suppose to do in his role, all I know is it involves having his memory wiped after he's done each job but this time he has been used and set up by the evil Eckhart.
Cue allot of running around, guns blazing everywhere, your typical Woo car/motorbike chase with standard silly slow motion stunts and of course your typical standard Woo point blank face off...or Mexican standoff. The concept for the film is pretty neat, not totally original in today's film world but it has promise, unfortunately like 'M.I.2' Woo was totally the wrong director for such a decent sci-fi story.
The whole thing looks bad, especially during the finale which looks like its been filmed on a set from the 60's Batman TV show, plus the acting is poor and hammy from almost everyone. Its all too predictable and quite simply its been done allot better with other films.