Paycheck (film)

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Paycheck
Directed by	John Woo
Written by	Philip K. Dick (story) Dean Georgaris (screenplay)
Starring	Ben Affleck Uma Thurman
Distributed by	- USA - Paramount Pictures - non-USA - DreamWorks SKG
Release date(s)	December 25, 2003
Running time	119 min
Language	English
Budget	60$ million
IMDb profile

Paycheck is a 2003 film adaptation of the short story Paycheck by science fiction writer Philip K. Dick. The movie was directed by John Woo and features Ben Affleck, Uma Thurman and Aaron Eckhart as the principal actors. Paul Giamatti and Colm Feore also appear.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Trivia 3 Reception 4 Cast 5 External links

[edit] Plot

Michael Jennings (Affleck) is a reverse engineer who routinely has his recent memories erased after working on high-tech projects. He is often helped by his friend Shorty (Giamatti). He agrees to take on a project for James Rethrick (Eckhart), his old college roommate and close personal friend; Rethrick is CEO of Allcom. All Jennings is told is that he is to design something for three years in exchange for 92 million dollars at Allcom's high-security facility. He meets and falls in love with Dr. Rachel Porter (Thurman), an Allcom biologist. However, after working for three years on the secret project, he wakes up with his memory erased and learns that he signed away his huge paycheck, and is left only with an envelope of personal effects - most of which aren't even his. Slowly he realizes he traded away his fortune to focus his attention on the envelope full of the following, seemingly unrelated items:

1. a pack of cigarettes (used to aid escape from the FBI by creating a smoke screen)
2. a pair of tinted sunglasses (allows Jennings to see through said smoke)
3. a bus pass (the only item common to both versions of the story, allows Jennings to escape)
4. a diamond ring (allows a street kid to steal it; had it not happened, Jennings would not have reached his destination)
5. a fortune cookie with a message and lucky numbers (winning lottery numbers, and clues to the location of the ticket
6. a janitor's key (allows friend to access circuit breakers, creating a distraction)
7. a can of hair spray (used with lighter to create distraction)
8. a cigarette lighter (used with hair spray to create distraction)
9. a paperclip (used to short-circuit electronics to prevent train from hitting him)
10. a matchbook (contains a bank's phone number)
11. a BMW key (allows him to escape on a motorcycle)
12. a converging lens (allows him to notice stamp)
13. a stamp (contains snapshots from the future)
14. a small container of ball bearings (used to create distraction at security)
15. a keycard to Allcom's facility (allows him to enter the lab)
16. a hex key (used to jam lab doors)
17. a fifty-cent piece (used to jam lab doors)
18. a crossword puzzle (locates a hidden bug on the machine)
19. a .45 Caliber bullet (used to fire into a hydrogen tank and destroy the machine)
20. a watch (alert him when to run)

Soon he discovers that Allcom security personnel (led by Fiore) are after him for some unknown reason, as is the FBI, agents of which tell him he committed treason against the United States. However, using the items now in his possession, Jennings is able to devise ways out of various predicaments and crises.

He soon discovers that he spent the last three years of his life designing and building a laser-enhanced lens which allows the user to see around the curvature of the universe, and thus, into the future. After building the machine, he used it to catch a glimpse of the future, foreseeing his own death by gunshot wound. He also learns that the machine, and the knowledge it brings, leads to a plague, World War III and the downfall of humanity. Using the machine one last time, Jennings plans his escape and the destruction of his creation. However, since he was completely isolated on the Allcom grounds, he was limited to leaving himself an envelope of innocent, everyday items.

Jennings and Porter make their escape after Rethrick is killed by an undercover FBI sniper (with the bullet that, in an alternate future, would have slain Jennings). The future-viewing device is destroyed. Jennings throws his watch into the flames of the destroyed machine, implying that he will no more be governed by time, but will let the future write itself.

The "paycheck" comes at the end of the movie, when Jennings finds a winning 90 million dollars lottery ticket hidden under the newspaper lining the bottom of Porter's birdcage. This fulfills the fortune cookie's message from earlier in the film, "If you only look where you can't go, you will miss the riches below."

[edit] Trivia

• The key premise of the movie, namely that knowledge of the future causes the destruction of the present (through a nuclear holocaust), was used in the one episode of the 1970s TV version of Logan's Run to explain the holocaust that destroyed much of human civilization in the 23rd century.

• Although set in Seattle, the movie was filmed in Vancouver.

• Affleck's character shares his love of the Boston Red Sox.

• The movie features several of director Woo's trademarks, including two Mexican standoffs and the appearance of a dove.

• The movie is one of few major productions to include a major, blatant grammatical error in print onscreen. Near the beginning of the film, Affleck reads of his invention of hologram in the paper; in enormous lettering, the headline uses 'it's' (as opposed to the correct 'its') as a possessive. Oddly enough, this obvious gaffe was evidently missed by everyone involved in the movie's cutting and production.

• In the film, Jennings states that when humans see war in the future, they cause it by trying to stop it from happening, resulting in a paradox.

[edit] Reception

Panned by critics and largely ignored by the viewing public, the movie was seen primarily as an action-adventure vehicle for Affleck. Some critics called this one of Woo's worst films, possibly because he downplayed many of the story's science fiction elements for transition to film. Fans of Philip K. Dick tend to be very critical of the movie.

Ben Affleck won Worst Actor from the Golden Raspberry Awards for his work in the movie, as well as in Gigli and Daredevil. After asking why he did not get his trophy, he was presented the Razzie live on Larry King Live a week later, which he promptly broke. The broken Razzie sold on eBay for enough money to cover the hall rental for the following year's ceremonies.

[edit] Cast

• Ben Affleck - Michael Jennings
• Aaron Eckhart - James Rethrick
• Colm Feore - John Wolfe
• Uma Thurman - Dr. Rachel Porter
• Paul Giamatti - Shorty
• Joe Morton - Ag. Dodge
• Michael C. Hall - Ag. Klein
• Peter Friedman - Atty. Gen. Brown
• Christopher Kennedy - Dr. Stevens
• Ivana Milicevic - Maya
• Kathryn Morris - Rita Dunne

[edit] External links

• Paycheck at the Internet Movie Database
• Paycheck at Rotten Tomatoes
• Paycheck at Box Office Mojo

Films directed by John Woo

Fist to Fist (1973) • The Young Dragons (1974) • The Dragon Tamers (1974) • Princess Chang Ping (1975) • Hand of Death (1975) • Money Crazy (1977) • Last Hurrah for Chivalry (1978) • Hello, Late Homecomers (1978) • Follow the Star (1978) • From Riches to Rags (1980) • To Hell with the Devil (1981) • Laughing Times (1981) • Plain Jane to the Rescue (1982) • The Time You Need a Friend (1984) • Run Tiger Run (1985) • Heroes Shed No Tears (1986) • A Better Tomorrow (1986) • A Better Tomorrow II (1987) • The Killer (1989) • Tragic Heroes (1989) • Bullet in the Head (1990) • Once a Thief (1991) • Hard Boiled (1992) • Hard Target (1993) • Broken Arrow (1996) • Once a Thief (1996) • Face/Off (1997) • Blackjack (1998) • Mission: Impossible II (2000) • Windtalkers (2002) • Paycheck (2003) • All the Invisible Children (2005) • The Battle of Red Cliff (2008)