Paycheck
Synopsis
Remember the future.
Michael Jennings is a genius who's hired -- and paid handsomely -- by high-tech firms to work on highly sensitive projects, after which his short-term memory is erased so he's incapable of breaching security. But at the end of a three-year job, he's told he isn't getting a paycheck and instead receives a mysterious envelope. In it are clues he must piece together to find out why he wasn't paid … and how he's gotten in hot water.
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Popular reviews
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Me watching this movie:
"I don't quite get what's going-- ohhhhh..."
"Hey, its Dexter!"
"Wait, what? Oh, now I get it...."
"Hold on, what in the fuck?!"
"Oh, its that thing he had and that other thing he had and next he'll use that other thing he has. "
*Predicts rest of plot with 90% accuracy*
*Calls friend and verbally assaults him for recommending this film*
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I was pressured into watching this, comparable to daredevil.
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This movie had an awesome start. It had that whole Total Recall/Minority Report thing going for it. But it really started to drag toward the middle and then was rushed toward the end. I was very disappointed about that, because the killer beginning gave me such high hopes for this movie. It...just...coulda been so much more, ya know? The casting was decent with the exception of Ben Affleck - who plays Ben Affleck in EVERY role.
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The title makes this too easy...Everyone involved was in it for a paycheck.
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Lacklustre effort from a then weary John Woo. JW's track record in Hollywood was less than stellar with Face/Off being the lone highlight.
I understand WHY Hollywood wanted him and am sure that he was financially rewarded for his troubles but Hollywood was not up to the task of making such a Director's visions come to fruition.
This then, was his Hollywood swansong and the messiest of any of his features.
Gone are the Woo signatures (overdone in M:I2) to be replaced with nothing of interest.
Shame.
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That's a 'twofer' today then on brainless adaptations of inventive source material from brilliant sci-fi writers. And much as Philip K Dick doesn't need to spin in his grave with Paycheck like William Gibson has probably spun on his axis for Johnny Mnemonic, it still makes me wonder how such a celebrated scribe can have his ingenious ideas so completely arsed up by a more than competent cast and a director in John Woo who is capable of far, far better work than is displayed here.
I described it above as brainless, and that is truly born out by some of the thuddingly stupid decisions Woo and the script makes in the name of spinning the wheels of narrative. Case…
Recent reviews
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Oh Ben how far you have come.....and Mr Woo, keeping your record clean of churning out overrated crap.
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I was pressured into watching this, comparable to daredevil.
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This movie had an awesome start. It had that whole Total Recall/Minority Report thing going for it. But it really started to drag toward the middle and then was rushed toward the end. I was very disappointed about that, because the killer beginning gave me such high hopes for this movie. It...just...coulda been so much more, ya know? The casting was decent with the exception of Ben Affleck - who plays Ben Affleck in EVERY role.
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It's not groundbreaking but it's a serviceable action/thriller film.
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This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.
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This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.
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:)
Uma Thurman <3 -
Me watching this movie:
"I don't quite get what's going-- ohhhhh..."
"Hey, its Dexter!"
"Wait, what? Oh, now I get it...."
"Hold on, what in the fuck?!"
"Oh, its that thing he had and that other thing he had and next he'll use that other thing he has. "
*Predicts rest of plot with 90% accuracy*
*Calls friend and verbally assaults him for recommending this film*
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Very interesting core idea with a bunch of cheesy and contrived cinematic moments. Worth watching with some fascinating concepts, but nothing stellar.