Paycheck - The Memorable TV DVD Review

At the heart of every Philip K. Dick scifi story is a more than healthy dose of paranoia (thanks in part no doubt to the unhealthy amount of drugs he was supposed to have ingested on a regular basis) and Paycheck (released on 7^th July by Universal) is no exception.

A supremely exciting, highly watchable scifi chase thriller with heavy shades of Minority Report and even Hitchcock’s North by Northwest (check out the crowded bus station scene and Affleck’s everyman suit).

It’s the near future and Ben Affleck stars as reverse engineer computer genius Michael Jennings, Affleck specialises in top secret projects for the cream of the business world and then having his recent memory erased so as not to spill any secrets.

His latest project which is worth a massive $90 million dollars will last an unprecedented three years, but, and here the plot really kicks into gear, once the job is finished he finds only an envelope of seemingly random objects, no money and no memory of the last three years.

Jennings is determined to get to the bottom of events but his employer (Aaron Eckhart) would prefer him dead and will stop at nothing to make him so.

It would be unfair to reveal too much more of the plot but safe to say Paycheck is excellent, the pace keeping you glued to the screen from start to finish, the production design is first rate, with its plausible 3D computers and slightly Orwellian feel. Director John Woo certainly knows how to handle his action sequence, the motorbike chase through a shipyard contains more than one heart stopping moment also watch out for a couple of his trade mark Mexican stand off scenes.

Only Uma Thurman slightly disappoints with her role as Michael’s girlfriend being somewhat on the extraneous sound – you do get the feeling her role is realy only there because the suits wanted a love interest for Affleck’s character.

Watch paycheck and you won’t be disappointed.

EXTRAS: Commentaries from director Woo and the scriptwriter, Tempting Fate (a feature looking at the stunts of paycheck); Designing the Future (self explanatory), various deleted and extended scenes and an alternate ending.