Paycheck

Directed by John Woo

Opens nationwide 12/25/2003

2.5 *

Philip K. Dick is Hollywood’s favorite kind of writer. As the author of the source material for Blade Runner, Total Recall, and Minority Report, Dick’s work is accessible, easily adaptable, not overly expensive to obtain, and fits into genres that La La land’s incipient blockbuster-makers like to work with, i.e. thrillers with a science fiction edge. Add to that the fact that he never complains about the big budget treatments his work receives and the only way they could love him more would be for his stuff to be in public domain.

The latest Dick short story to get expanded to the big screen is “Paycheck” which has the novel distinction of being that rare Dick story where they use his title as well as his set-up. In the near future, engineer Michael Jennings (Ben Affleck) is in demand as a reverse engineer. Besides being good at his work, Michael is also willing to have his short-term (meaning the tenure of the project) memories erased after he is done—so he appeals to a certain type of company who may want to utilize someone else’s work without paying for it (cannot imagine why this particular item would resonate in Hollywood). Although he has never had a “get it and forget it” job of more than two month’s duration, when tycoon Aaron Eckhart comes to him with a terrific offer, he hesitates only slightly when told that this project will last two to three years.

In the blink of an eye, the job is done, but when Michael goes to collect, he finds that instead of the expected stock (now valued at $92 million), he has authorized that it all be traded for an envelope filled with 19 disparate items such as a silver dollar, a magnifying lens, a fortune cookie slip, etc. None of it makes any sense until he almost dies in police custody and each item seems to come in handy at just the right moment. The rest of the movie (as in the story) in one lengthy chase sequence punctuated by fights (fights added by screenwriter Dean Georgaris).

Unfortunately, some of Dick’s cleverest moments are lost including the final one for which director John Woo and his gang substitute a “don’t worry, the hero still gets the money” fade-out which is probably the most offensive movie cliché we currently endure. John Woo’s Hong Kong action pictures had a quality and excitement to them that invited film fest circuit buzz, comparisons to Sam Peckinpah, and invitations from Hollywood. Storytelling was never his strong suit in the past, but in recent movies (such as the Mission: Impossible sequel), he seems to eschew any plotting beyond the initial set-up. Here we have all the standard Woo moments: birdies in slow-mo, a Mexican stand-off with two pistol-wielding characters guns drawn and stopped for a chat, the Psycho homage, etc.

But what used to be fun to spot now seems to be little more than a checklist. But there are some decisions on camera placement and action choreography that just seem sloppy from someone of Woo’s technical achievement. Badly lit interiors make for confusing fight sequences where you think one character has been hit, but then it turns out to be another. Shots are not mismatched, merely poorly-staged and claustrophobic (maybe Michael Bay is giving lessons in how to misdirect). The exteriors are better as Vancouver subs for near-future Everytown, USA

And what is the point of another protracted chase scene in the middle of a Woo movie? The hero is not going to die because the flick is only half over, the worst of the bad guys will get a more personalized send-off in the final reel. So all we get are a lot of impossible variations on stuff done better in past movies, a slew on anonymous baddies crashing, and a bunch of near misses from which our hero (or in this case Ben Affleck) emerges to chase another day.

And when you consider that Mr. Affleck is not exactly God’s gift to acting (only Kevin Smith seems to get the best out of him—and let’s not get all worked up over Gigli, Meryl Streep could not have saved that), it is amazing that the movie works as well as it does. He is engaging and good-natured here and just what the story requires. Paycheck makes for an enjoyable popcorn-chomper and is not the worst Philip K. Dick adaptation ever—that would be Impostor.

–Bill Henry

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