Paycheck (Widescreen)
Picture: B+ Sound: B Extras: C
Film: C
Philip K. Dick has been
brought to the big screen many times, but now in an A-level film for the third
time, with the previous two high profile adaptations being poles apart. Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner is as classic as it comes when it involves Science
Fiction and the capabilities of celluloid to embrace the genre. As for Minority
Report, Spielberg had no sense of what he was working with and instead
created a world that was far from futuristic or for that matter
interesting.
Minority Report and Paycheck both involve
an interesting concept that deals with time and time travel, but the way that
the material is handled is the problem.
Director John Woo (after coming off one of his finer films Windtalkers, which you can read more
about at http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review.php?id=206&filter=W
elsewhere on this site)
takes on the project with mixed results.
Part of the problem lies within the casting for the film. As much as I like Uma Thurman, she was
completely misused within this film, which after watching Kill Bill Vol.1 and Vol.2
I think audiences are much more aware of her capabilities. Here she is floating through the material,
mostly because she could probably care less anyway. Then there’s Ben Affleck…need I say
more? Why is he being used as a
macho/action hero all of a sudden? Gigli, Daredevil, and now this?
Ok, so the casting is a
bit of a problem, but not totally detrimental.
However, let’s focus on the story a bit more. The premise to Paycheck is that Michael Jennings (Affleck) is paid big money to
steal top-secret projects because he is a wizard computer engineer. He steals the designs from these projects and
afterwards they wipe away his short-term memory so that he cannot remember what
he did anyway. His new project is a huge
one…a three year assignment, which will give him a final paycheck that he can
live off forever. One problem though
emerges when Jennings comes back from his memory wipe he finds out that he
somehow forfeited all his earnings! Why
would he do this? Or did he
We learn what is going on
as Jennings does, but as we go along and realize what has happened Jennings life
is in danger and he must flee for his life with the only help coming from a
scientist (Thurman). The question is
whether his future is already written or did he change that future already for
himself? All he has is an envelope of
material, but somehow each of the items within helps his situation as he goes
along, did he place those items in there on purpose?
The premise is somewhat
flawed to an extent, but even if we give ourselves over to the material, it
just seems like the film never knows if it wants to deal on an action level, a
thriller level, or just deal with the science of things. A director like John Woo is better at
handling action and while this attempt to delve into a different genre is
respectable, it might be better for him to stick with the things he is better
at.
Jeffrey L. Kimball’s
camerawork can be seen quite well with Paramount’s DVD displaying the film in its original 2.35 X 1
scope anamorphic transfer. Kimball is a
regular on Woo’s American films working on both Mission Impossible II and Windtalkers. He is very literate when it comes to various
lighting schemes and creating a mood that fits the film, but for this film I
didn’t think that it matched the material.
If you compare once again the lighting scheme from Blade Runner to Minority
Report you get a huge contrast in how the world of the future was
handled. Ridley Scott chose a darker
look, while Spielberg went for a much brighter, light blowing out the windows type of look. This was Spielberg going back to scope filmmaking
and also shot the film in Super 35, which created more grain than needed! Going back to Paycheck, this film is shot somewhere between the dark recesses of
Blade Runner and the bright washed
out look of Minority Report. The DVD
captures the look of the film well, with excellent color definition and
detail.
As with almost all
Paramount DVD’s the only audio option is Dolby Digital 5.1, which is too muted
and even Minority Report had the DTS
option, which upgraded the sound design and allowed for a more sonic
experience, which this film could have benefited greatly from. There are two commentary tracks provided as
well, one from John Woo and the other from screenwriter Dean Georgaris, who
attempts to explain how he handled Dick’s material to begin with. I have always felt that a writer undermines
themselves when they must explain why they did what they did.
A few extras are included
such as a featurette on the stunts and designing the futuristic look of the
film, which I argue did not work anyway.
There are also a couple extra scenes/deleted scenes, which were wisely
taken out of the film. Overall, nothing
too special here, but then again the film is only so-so to begin with, so it’s
not begging for much in terms of extras anyway.
I would have to say that
most will find Paycheck to be a
mixed bag. Even though the overall
production is pretty fine and the directing is good, this is just not the type
of film for these people to be involved with.
It just did not work from a formula standpoint. Part of being a talented director or
actor/actress is picking roles that are designed for you and your potential,
instead of trying to make the material work for you. These are very skilled people, but they just
clashed with this Genre and we had to all sit there and watch the destruction
right in front of us.
- Nate Goss
