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Paycheck is directed by John Woo. The film stars Ben
Affleck (Pearl Harbor), Aaron Eckhart (The Dark Knight),
Uma Thurman (Kill Bill), and Paul Giamatti (Big Fat Liar.)
The musical score is by John Powell, and the film is based
on a short story by Philip K. Dick (whose writings inspired
films such as Blade Runner and Minority Report.) ***
Michael Jennings is in the field of reverse engineering
– in which he learns how things work and improves the technology,
selling off his improved technology to the highest bidder.
At the end of each job, he agrees to have his memory erased.
He soon accepts a large job with a massive salary, fully-aware
of the fact that he could lose multiple years worth of memories
in the process. And after having his memory wiped, things
take a turn for the worse – he is now wanted by the FBI.
***
Paycheck is one of those movies that was never a massive
hit at the box office or a favorite of viewers or critics.
A shame, because this is quite the good movie. It focuses
more on the action end of Philip K. Dick’s story than the
philosophical, and while some would argue about this being
a weak point of the film, this reviewer thinks it was the
right decision as far as bringing the story to the screen
goes. ***
By far the best thing about this film is the all-star
cast. Ben Affleck plays leading man Michael Jennings, and
this stands as one of his best roles of recent years. In
other roles are a pre-Dark Knight Aaron Eckhart (this guy
is SO underrated), as well as Uma Thurman and Paul Giamatti.
These are s ome of the most talented actors out there, and
they all play their respective parts well. ***
And there’s more to it than a good cast. The direction
and writing are strong as well. It’s never an easy task
to bring a Philip K. Dick story to the big screen, but director
John Woo pulls it off nicely. The movie runs for nearly
two hours, but thanks to Woo’s direction it never feels
overlong or preachy. ***
Ultimately, Paycheck is a fantastic film, far better
than the critics and casual moviegoers gave it credit for
being. If you’re looking for a fun way to kill two hours,
look no further than this film. It’s not award-winning material
by any means, but it isn’t trying to be. It’s just two hours
of pure entertainment that never got the proper credit.
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Image and Sound:
Paramount gives us an excellent transfer of this film
on Blu-Ray in 1080p, Paycheck looks better than it has ever
looked before. The image is sharp throughout, detail is
strong, and there are almost no negative anomalies in the
image whatsoever. Black levels are consistent as well. A
TrueHD audio track goes great with the image, rocking the
speakers in the midst of action scenes and keeping the viewer’s
attention from start to finish. This transfer is some of
the finest audio and video quality I have ever seen on a
Paramount disc. ---
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