Paycheck – Blu-ray Review

By Jeff Swindoll May 27, 2009, 12:59 GMT

In a futuristic but familiar world, a high-tech engineer whose memory has been partially erased must use a group of unrelated objects, including a wire, a ticket stub and a bus token as clues to discover the truth about his previous identity, and collect a paycheck he had been awaiting. Based on the short story by science fiction author Phillip K. Dick. ...more

Director John Woo’s last directorial film so far features a befuddled Ben Affleck (talk about typecasting) on the lam but not knowing why.  This sci-fi thriller ramps up the action and keeps you guessing as to what Affleck has been up to before he had his memory erased.  

Michael Jennings (Ben Affleck) makes large sums of money for reverse engineering products of competitor’s products.  Not that he’d know it since when he’s done with a job he has his friend Shorty (Paul Giamatti) wipes his memory of all traces of the job.  His old college buddy Rethrick (Aaron Eckhardt) tells Michael that he has a big assignment for him. 

It will take three years but it will also generate a paycheck of tens of millions of dollars.  It’s now three years in the future and a befuddled Michael is done with the job.  He’s befuddled because Rethrick and his goons are trying to kill him and he doesn’t have a clue why.  He’s mailed himself some strange items to try and figure out the mystery as to why he’s targeted for death and being chased by the FBI, with the help of Dr. Rachael Porter (Uma Thurman).  

John Woo is known for his signature style and packing in the action.  The plot of Paycheck is from the fertile mind of Phillip K. Dick.  Then there’s Ben Affleck who won an award for his performance for this film, Gigli, and Daredevil.  Of course, it was a Golden Raspberry Award for worst actor. 

However, the befuddled nature of the character actually seems to work for him in this film.  You probably don’t want to think too much about the plot and just let the action sequences move you along.  Woo has been better, but even mediocre Woo is better than some of the lesser talents working in the industry. 

Paul Giamatti has a fun time as the eraser, but Uma Thurman is really given little to do.  The irony is that in the commentary that Woo says that he wanted Matt Damon for the role and Damon suggest Affleck for the role since he was unavailable.  Are these two ever seen together?  Maybe one of them doesn’t exist after all.  

Paycheck is presented in a 1080p high definition transfer (2.35:1).  Special features include two audio commentaries.  One commentary is from director John Woo and the other from screenwriter Dean Georgaris.  The rest of the special features are presented in standard definition.  They include the 18 minute making of featurette, the 16 minute “Tempting Fate” about the stunts of the film, and six deleted/extended scenes.  

Paycheck doesn’t exactly bounce but it isn’t going to go down in the realm of classic sci-fi masterpieces either.  It’s a pleasant enough time killer with some nice action/adventure sequences thrown in.  It all depends on your tolerance of Ben Affleck.

Paycheck [Blu-ray] is now available at Amazon. Visit the DVD database for more information.