| Overall Grade: |
B |
|
| Story: |
N/A |
|
|
| Acting: |
N/A |
|
|
| Direction: |
N/A |
|
|
| Visuals: |
N/A |
|
|
An Interesting Dichotomy
by Stephen (movies profile)
Apr 29, 2008
39
of
47 people found this review helpful
I walked out of the theater after seeing "Paycheck" rather confused. On one hand, I had just seen a film based on a short story by Phillip K. Dick (whom I greatly admire and enjoy the works of), yet on the other, it was a film directed by John Woo. One would not normally expect to see that sort of combination. On the whole, the movie is much of what the critics described: rather thin on plot, underdeveloped character depth, and action scenes that seemed so formulaic that one would expect to see a man holding a recipe book just behind the screen adding the required explosions and whatnot as required. Yet, on the other hand, this was a John Woo film, the same director who brought us "Face Off" and made his name based on avant garde violence, and by that standard, "Paycheck" was a significant leap forward in plot development and material ambition. I suppose ones opinion of the movie would be primairly based on what one was going to see; a suceessful and throurgh adaptation of a work of Phillip K. Dick, or a mildly insightful/thoughtful action film. With the former (see "Blade Runner", "Total Recall", "Minority Report"), the disappointment is understandably utter and absolute. Concerning the latter, however, "Paycheck" introduces significant suspense about what exactly happened to the hero (Ben Affleck), and how he will go about resolving his dilemna. Granted, there is no doubt about what will happen in the end (hero getting the girl, bad guy dying painfully, cops deciding to leave the hero alone), but the mechanism as to how it will occure is skillfully hidden until the very end. The action scenes, as I said before, were trite and formulaic, yet this was almost acceptable considering the director. Uma Thurman and Ben Affleck seemed strained in their romance, yet, considering the circumstance of the movie, this can be written off to plot development. . Thus, ones perception of the film is, I feel, almost entirely based on the expectations upon entry; for those seeking a seminal work such as "Blade Runner", or looking for a masterful piece such as "Minority Report", this is not the movie for you. For those seeking a fun action film with explosions, that requires a bit more thought than ususal, then by all means go and watch "Paycheck" |
My Public Profile 
