'Paycheck' is not good. Oh, it's got a great beginning and a fine overall idea but it's execution is horrible. Blame Director John Woo. Not Philip K. Dick, from whose story the film was adapted.
Here's the story. Ben Affleck plays a future scientist who creates products for manufacturers. But the products are to be kept secret and so Affleck's memory of the design process is (voluntarily) erased once he completes the job. That way the manufacturer can be sure their product will stay secret till they want it released. But one product designed is so dangerous, both the manufacturer and law enforcement are searching for Affleck so that they can (a) make sure he doesn't spill the beans (manufacturer) and (b) get him to spill the beans (police).
All that is fine. But when Affleck becomes a Jason Bourne like fighting-machine the film defies credibility. When he navigates a motorcycle in an all but endless chase scene, it defies credibility even more. Add Uma Thurman as the love interest and the film descends even faster; she plays her role as a scientist as though she were a high-school cheerleader. Aaron Eckhart is the CEO of the manufacturing company and, incredibly, he's every bit as good a fighter as is Affleck's 'Bourne' character. There are chases and explosions and a secret laboratory right out of a bad James Bond film of the Seventies, and all and all we've got a giant mess on our hands, and we stop caring, stop paying attention, and begin hoping that the end will come soon.
And end it does. But sadly, not soon enough.
Here's the story. Ben Affleck plays a future scientist who creates products for manufacturers. But the products are to be kept secret and so Affleck's memory of the design process is (voluntarily) erased once he completes the job. That way the manufacturer can be sure their product will stay secret till they want it released. But one product designed is so dangerous, both the manufacturer and law enforcement are searching for Affleck so that they can (a) make sure he doesn't spill the beans (manufacturer) and (b) get him to spill the beans (police).
All that is fine. But when Affleck becomes a Jason Bourne like fighting-machine the film defies credibility. When he navigates a motorcycle in an all but endless chase scene, it defies credibility even more. Add Uma Thurman as the love interest and the film descends even faster; she plays her role as a scientist as though she were a high-school cheerleader. Aaron Eckhart is the CEO of the manufacturing company and, incredibly, he's every bit as good a fighter as is Affleck's 'Bourne' character. There are chases and explosions and a secret laboratory right out of a bad James Bond film of the Seventies, and all and all we've got a giant mess on our hands, and we stop caring, stop paying attention, and begin hoping that the end will come soon.
And end it does. But sadly, not soon enough.