Paycheck is a big bust

It's hardly ever a good thing when you can laugh at a serious movie all the way through. And it's definitely never good when the entire premise of a movie is so flimsy you can pick it apart faster than Ben Affleck's career nose-dived after Gigli. Unfortunately, Paycheck is the kind of movie where you end up doing both.

Paycheck, based on a short story by Philip K. Dick (author of the stories behind Blade Runner and Minority Report), quickly degenerates into an orgy of poorly done chase scenes and far too-convenient escapes. John Woo directs this movie at a level not seen since MI:2 - unbelievably awful.

The story behind Paycheck is pretty simple. Michael Jennings (Ben Affleck) is a 'reverse engineer,' a highly illegal type of scientist that steals and improves upon patented technology. At the end of each of his two-month stints, Jennings' corporate masters wipe his memory so he can never reveal their thievery. However, one day his buddy, CEO of the evil Alcom Corporation (Aaron Eckhart) offers Jennings the deal of a lifetime – a paycheck (That's where the name comes from!) totaling almost $100 million. All Jennings has to do is spend three years working for Alcom and agree to have his memory wiped afterwards.

Jennings wakes up with no memory of what he has done, to find that he has forfeited his entire paycheck. He has no idea why he did so, and even less of a clue why the FBI and Alcom are both chasing him relentlessly. He can't even remember his girlfriend (Uma Thurman). All Jennings has are twenty clues he mailed to himself, innocuous household items - but of course he can't remember what they mean. So Jennings has to find the meaning behind the puzzle he created for himself before Alcom's nefarious plans are completed.

The main problem with Paycheck is that the whole plot feels far too contrived. Since, as the previews say, Jennings saw his future and wanted to change it, he has provided himself with the perfect clues to get out of every fix. Thus there is no suspense, since Jennings already planned his own escapes. There is never any reason to worry about whether the getaways will work, since Jennings saw the future and knew that they would. Anytime Jennings needs to get somewhere, the way there materializes. Every time he needs a way out, it pops up right in front of him.

Also, the entire premise is terribly flawed. If Jennings could send himself the twenty clues, why didn't he just send himself a note with the answer on it? ("Michael, the project you worked on is evil. Here's how to destroy it."). Paycheck has nothing fresh to offer either, with worn-out fight scenes that could have come from almost any major action movie from the last decade. John Woo still thinks there is something that makes sense about having a white dove fly across screen right before a gunfight. Additionally, the central question is exactly the same as that posed by Minority Report - can someone who sees their future change it?

Finally, there was obviously not an incredible amount of effort invested in Paycheck. Case in point – in one restaurant scene, Jennings packs up his clues, but leaves the final one right on the table. At the end of the movie he has it right back in the envelope, a terribly sloppy oversight. The actors especially didn't seem to care about the movie, and often appear to be just filling screen time. It's obvious that they were only interested in getting their paychecks.

All that said, there are some good scenes in Paycheck, especially several where characters try to deceive Jennings by exploiting his memory wipe. In fact, every character Jennings meets asks him at least five times what he remembers and if his memory was wiped. But the overall movie is competently shot and scored, and there are no technical problems or issues with fake-looking stunts. Basically, Paycheck is an otherwise decent movie built on a remarkably flawed premise. Think about it like a pretty house constructed over a sinkhole – no matter how nice the window dressings are, the whole thing still sinks.

Paycheck is rated PG-13 for strong language and action scenes. Now playing everywhere.