(Let’s be clear about this: I will fuck a fire-breathing dragon for a $92,000,000 paycheck - and the rest of its clan. If that makes me a whore then, yes, call me a whore…)
CAST: Ben Affleck, Aaron Eckhart, Uma Thurman, Paul Giamatti, Colm Feore, Joe Morton, Michael C. Hall, Kathryn Morris, Ivana Milicevic.
DIRECTOR: John Woo
WARNING: Some SPOILERS and one seriously befuddled amnesiac straight ahead…
Riddle me this folks: let’s say you were offered a job that paid more than you’ve ever dreamed you’d earn in this lifetime (or three), but with the condition that you’d need to have your memory erased afterwards for confidentiality purposes. Would you do it? Remember - this is more money than you could ever earn in three lifetimes. Personally, the question you’d have to ask me is not “Would you do it?” but rather, “Does my employer need their laundry done? Because I’ll do that, too. As long as I get my paycheck.”
Hence the title of our next review, which is the Philip K. Dick-based, John Woo-directed sci-fi action thriller PAYCHECK. The hero of this flick is Michael Jennings (Ben Affleck), and he is confronted the very same dilemma as I have outlined above. Actually, “dilemma” is a bit of a misnomer. “No brainer” would be a more accurate term - since Michael’s paycheck is in the neighborhood of, oh, $92 million. For that amount, folks, I would gladly eat my cat. Sorry, Casper… love you, dude - but this is $92 million clams.
You might be wondering what the fuck Michael is doing that warrants getting paid that insanely huge amount of money. Well, our Mikey is apparently some sort of “Reverse Engineer.” It sounds pretty fancy, but from what we see in this movie, it just involves the following: (1) stealing someone else’s technology; and (2) well… that’s it, really. Of course, this usually involves Michael having to sequester himself in some warehouse or lab while he strip-mines some company’s high-tech contraption - under the dime of a rival company seeking to, well, pull a knock-off. I wonder if this shit goes down in the fashion industry?
Whatever. Our story gets kick-started when Michael runs into old college chum Jimmy Rethrick (Aaron Eckhart), who is apparently some sort of Bill Gates-styled mogul. Only, let’s face it, infinitely hotter. While the audience is wondering how someone so rich can also be so good-looking, Jimmy offers Michael the aforementioned $92 million paycheck. The job? Well, it’s all very hush-hush and all that jazz. But the main reason the price is so high is because it will require Michael to cut himself off from the rest of the world for a much, much longer time while he steals another industrial secret. Specifically, three years. And at the end of those three years, Michael will have to get his memory erased. In exchange for a $92 million payday.
Riddle me this again, folks: would you give up three years of your life for $92 million? I think I speak for all of us when I very tastefully say, “Fuck, yeah…”
Needless to say, Michael jumps all over that offer like it’s Anne Hathaway without a stitch of clothing on. And, before you know it, three years have gone by - and Michael emerges on the other end with his memory of the last three years pretty much gone the way of TWO AND HALF MEN - into purgatory. No matter, because Michael walks away from Jimmy’s HQ, thinking that he’s $92 million richer.
Please try to contain your disbelief (or laughter) when Michael arrives at his financial firm to discover… he has forfeited his paycheck. Yes, the very same paycheck that he sacrificed $92 million clameroos for. The very same paycheck he had his memory of the last three years wiped for. The very same paycheck that, apparently, no longer exists because he allegedly contacted his firm a mere four weeks ago to instruct them to basically flush it down the toilet.
I’ll let that sink in for a bit while I go out and hit the local Walgreens for some deodorant. You know it’s time when you fish out the little plastic thingie out of the container and grip it with your fingers to use the last sliver of deodorant. Back in a jiff…
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Okay, I’m back. I hope in the time it took me to dash out to Walgreens to get some deodorant, ice cream, and Neutrogena Body Oil, you have managed to pick your jaw off the ground about Michael’s apparent spell of temporary insanity. How else would you describe it when someone kisses off close to a $100 million dollars? It gets even more bizarre (if you can somehow imagine): in place of all that money, Michael finds an envelope (stamped and self-addressed, evidently) that contains a bunch of useless shit: horrible sunglasses, a diamond ring, hair spray, paper clips, cigarettes, ball bearings, a bus schedule, and assorted other shit that might lead you to believe that Michael spent the last three years as a car-less pimp.
What exactly happened during those past three years? What project did Jimmy have Michael work on? And why is the FBI suddenly very interested in Michael? Was the project something highly illegal? Is Jimmy a baddie? Why did Michael cancel his paycheck? What purpose do all the “useless junk” in the envelope serve? What role does Rachel Porter (Uma Thurman), Michael’s girlfriend during the last three years whom he can’t remember either, play in the unfolding puzzle? Is she friend - or foe? And who do I have to thank for casting Ben Affleck, Aaron Eckhart, and Uma Thurman in the same flick?
They might as well have called it: EYE CANDY: THE MOVIE.
BUT, SERIOUSLY: In the grand pantheon of Philip K. Dick adaptations - with BLADE RUNNER and MINORITY REPORT at the very top, TOTAL RECALL close to the top, IMPOSTOR in the middle, and NEXT just below it - the spot PAYCHECK occupies is somewhere between “close to the top” and “middle.” It’s definitely above average, even good. But it somehow stops just short of being an outright classic. Still, the direction is confident, as is its stars, and the storyline is consistenly exciting but never gets confusing. There are moment that stretch credibility but, hey, this is a sci-fi thriller. What do you expect?
The cast is good. They do what needs to be done, and do it well. Ben Affleck makes for a decent hero, and while Michael Jennings is conceived as one of those guys that are crafty and brilliant, Affleck gives the character a certain boyish quality that makes him vulnerable and appealing. Contrast this role and other ones before Affleck’s career resurgence in THE TOWN, and it’s clear that he has range and talent.
Aaron Eckhart is a little bit less effective as the villainous Rethrick, and this is no fault on the part of Eckhart. As I wrote above, he delivers a good performance. The problem is Rethrick comes across as too likable and laid-back to be a credible threat. I know Eckhart can play baddies well. He proved this in his star-making turn in IN THE COMPANY OF MEN, and his career-reviving appearance in THE DARK KNIGHT as Harvey Dent. So, it’s not a question of ability. For some reason, Eckhart chose to play Rethrick as low-key, when the role could’ve used a little more intensity and “over-the-top” energy. I’ve often wondered if Eckhart and Affleck should’ve switched roles. I can see Affleck chewing the scenery - in a good way.
The best performance, though, comes from the statuesquely gorgeous Uma Thurman as Rachel Porter, the good woman who stands by Michael through thick and thin. Thurman has this ability to make you forget you are looking at one of the most beautiful women in the world, and not intimidate you with her beauty. This quality was very much present in her memorable turn as Helena in the brooding serial-killer thiller JENNIFER EIGHT, and it is present in Rachel, too. This character radiates sweetness and loyalty, and you can see why Michael would fall for her.
Thurman works hard to invest her potentially underwritten role with so much emotional depth, and loads every single look, smile, and sentence with meaning. Watch for the scene where she slowly realizes that Michael remembers nothing of their last three years together. Watch how she quietly asks him, “You don’t remember me, do you?” Watch how her face falls apart for just a second. Then watch how she quickly steps on her pain before turning away from Michael. It’s a textbook example of how to portray emotional complexity in just seconds - with the fewest words. Thurman’s most formidable acting tool are her eyes - and she uses them to maximum advantage here. In fact, the first time we meet Rachel, her eyes are the centerpiece of the scene - which becomes an important plot point later… You’ll see.
Paul Giamatti, Colm Feore, Joe Morton, Michael C. Hall, Kathryn Morris, and Ivana Milicevic are all sharp in their supporting roles. Giamatti is the standout, and he makes for a likable sidekick that we want to see survive this madness just as much as we do Michael and Rachel.
In the end, PAYCHECK may not be as great as BLADE RUNNER or MINORITY REPORT, but it is almost on a par with TOTAL RECALL. In some ways, it’s actually just as good.
