Minimum Wage Thriller
Director John Woo has set a milestone with his latest thriller Paycheck. It is probably the most boneheaded movie of 2003.
Taking place in the near future, the movie follows what happens after reverse engineer Jennings (Ben Affleck) gets his memory wiped clean after spending three years developing a secret super weapon for power hungry villain Rethrick (Aaron Eckhart). What starts out as an intriguing concept about a man who spends his entire life just living the highlights of a life, while forgetting all the mundane and boring parts, ends up as a stupid action flick that has as few thrills as it has brains.
When the brain-wiped Jennings goes to collect the millions of dollars he was promised by the bad guy, he finds out that he has forfeited his payment in lieu of 19 everyday items. Next thing Jennings knows, an FBI taskforce headed by Joe Morton in a thankless nameless role is dragging him in for questioning. Instead of dying during the interrogation as Rethrick and his henchmen had predicted with their secret weapon, Jennings uses a couple of his items to escape. In no time, Jennings figures out that the secret weapon is some sort of time viewing device that his pre-wiped self wanted to destroy. With his girlfriend Rachel (Uma Thurman, looking a bit dazed), whom he can't remember in tow, Jennings sets out to stop the evil corporation with corporate goons and the FBI in hot pursuit.
It is during the prolonged chase sequence that things really start getting silly. Jennings' bag of tricks is reminiscent of Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, going back in time and seeding various situations with items they would need to escape. That Jennings not only has the items, but that the items include cigarettes that an FBI agent smokes (apparently in the future the Federal government has relaxed its no smoking rules) and his still-active company swipe card is laughable. That he knows exactly what to do with them is ridiculous, even in the world of the science fiction thriller. The internal rules of this universe just make it too easy for Jennings to get back to the evil company and come face-to-face with the machine that will mean mankind's destruction.
The secret machine is itself the biggest problem with the movie. We never really learn the theory behind it, nor why the ruthless bad guy will eventually release it to the government knowing full well that Armageddon will ensue shortly thereafter. What's even more inexplicable is why Jennings goes to fairly elaborate means to destroy the machine when a good, old-fashioned monkey wrench literally could have done the trick.
Much of the blame for the movie lies in the script by Dean Georgaris, which, like Minority Report, is based on a Philip K. Dick short story. Like its predecessor, the interesting set up—what does it take to live a human life (a recurring theme in Dick's fiction)—is sacrificed for car chases and explosions.
The acting is pretty weak, as are, surprisingly, the action sequences, particularly the final confrontation between good guy and bad guy. It is pedestrian and nothing like Woo's superior earlier efforts.
Too bad the memory wiping technology in Paycheck isn't available. It would make the entire experience of seeing this travesty a lot less painful.
Taking place in the near future, the movie follows what happens after reverse engineer Jennings (Ben Affleck) gets his memory wiped clean after spending three years developing a secret super weapon for power hungry villain Rethrick (Aaron Eckhart). What starts out as an intriguing concept about a man who spends his entire life just living the highlights of a life, while forgetting all the mundane and boring parts, ends up as a stupid action flick that has as few thrills as it has brains.
When the brain-wiped Jennings goes to collect the millions of dollars he was promised by the bad guy, he finds out that he has forfeited his payment in lieu of 19 everyday items. Next thing Jennings knows, an FBI taskforce headed by Joe Morton in a thankless nameless role is dragging him in for questioning. Instead of dying during the interrogation as Rethrick and his henchmen had predicted with their secret weapon, Jennings uses a couple of his items to escape. In no time, Jennings figures out that the secret weapon is some sort of time viewing device that his pre-wiped self wanted to destroy. With his girlfriend Rachel (Uma Thurman, looking a bit dazed), whom he can't remember in tow, Jennings sets out to stop the evil corporation with corporate goons and the FBI in hot pursuit.
It is during the prolonged chase sequence that things really start getting silly. Jennings' bag of tricks is reminiscent of Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, going back in time and seeding various situations with items they would need to escape. That Jennings not only has the items, but that the items include cigarettes that an FBI agent smokes (apparently in the future the Federal government has relaxed its no smoking rules) and his still-active company swipe card is laughable. That he knows exactly what to do with them is ridiculous, even in the world of the science fiction thriller. The internal rules of this universe just make it too easy for Jennings to get back to the evil company and come face-to-face with the machine that will mean mankind's destruction.
The secret machine is itself the biggest problem with the movie. We never really learn the theory behind it, nor why the ruthless bad guy will eventually release it to the government knowing full well that Armageddon will ensue shortly thereafter. What's even more inexplicable is why Jennings goes to fairly elaborate means to destroy the machine when a good, old-fashioned monkey wrench literally could have done the trick.
Much of the blame for the movie lies in the script by Dean Georgaris, which, like Minority Report, is based on a Philip K. Dick short story. Like its predecessor, the interesting set up—what does it take to live a human life (a recurring theme in Dick's fiction)—is sacrificed for car chases and explosions.
The acting is pretty weak, as are, surprisingly, the action sequences, particularly the final confrontation between good guy and bad guy. It is pedestrian and nothing like Woo's superior earlier efforts.
Too bad the memory wiping technology in Paycheck isn't available. It would make the entire experience of seeing this travesty a lot less painful.
