Paycheck (2003)

What seemed like a breezy idea for an engineer to net him millions of dollars, leaves him on the run for his life and piecing together why he's being chased.

Director:

John Woo

Writers:

Philip K. Dick (short story), Dean Georgaris (screenplay)

Stars:

Ben Affleck, Aaron Eckhart, Uma Thurman

3 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ben Affleck	...	Jennings
Aaron Eckhart	...	Rethrick
Uma Thurman	...	Rachel
Paul Giamatti	...	Shorty
Colm Feore	...	Wolfe
Joe Morton	...	Agent Dodge
Michael C. Hall	...	Agent Klein
Peter Friedman	...	Attorney General Brown
Kathryn Morris	...	Rita Dunne
Ivana Milicevic	...	Maya-Rachel
Christopher Kennedy	...	Stevens
Fulvio Cecere	...	Agent Fuman
John Cassini	...	Agent Mitchell
Callum Keith Rennie	...	Jude - Guard
Michelle Harrison	...	Jane

Storyline

Michael Jennings is a reverse engineer and what he does is technical jobs for certain companies and as soon as he is done, his memory of the work he has done is wiped out. Now the longest he has been contracted is 2 months. But now billionaire, James Rethrick offers him a job that would last 2 years, maybe 3, and he promises that he will probably earn 8 figures. Michael agrees. Before beginning he turns in all of his personal effects. And when the job is done, his memory is erased and he learns he made over 90 million dollars over the three years. When he goes to claim it and his personal effects, he discovers that prior to the erasure of his memory he waived his rights to the money he earned and that the items that were given to him were not the ones he gave when he began. Later he is arrested by the FBI who say that he committed some act of treason and murder. It's while he is in custody that he escapes using some the items that he was given. He later meets with a friend who gives ...

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Plot Keywords:

time | pipe wrench | babe scientist | seeing the future | evil corporation | 

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Taglines:

Remember the future.

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Genres:

Action | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for intense action violence and brief language

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the "Making of" featurette on the DVD, director John Woo says that the visual similarities in the lead character to Roger Thornhill from North by Northwest (1959), as well as similarities in chase scenes, etcetera, are there on purpose.

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Goofs

(Around 24 minutes) Jennings buttons up his jacket when he gets out of the cab but in the next scene, when he sits down at the desk, his jacket is unbuttoned.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Holographic Woman: It's time to wake up... and get a life. We live in a 3-dimensional world. Until now, the world of computing has been a flat world, consisting of 2-dimensional imagery. Now, through the use of exclusive breakthrough technology, ARC has made it possible for you to get a life. A-Life, where we can work and play in a lifelike world of 3-dimensional reality. A-Life, the living monitor.

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Connections

Referenced in An Evening with Kevin Smith 2: Evening Harder (2006)

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Soundtracks

Happy Birthday to You
by Mildred J. Hill & Patty S. Hill

User Reviews

Better than I thought

I went in to this film with relatively low expectations. Other reviews I had read led me to believe that this was a cookie cutter, run of the mill, made for tv-esque amnesia story. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The main plot of most amnesia types is trying to find out who they are and why someone erased their memory. With Paycheck, however, our protagonist already knows why his memory was erased, and since it's only been three years, he of course knows who he is.

The plot device is that at the end of this little memory wipe he's supposed to be 92 million dollars plus richer. Imagine his surprise when he finds out he's forfeit the money, and instead mailed himself some apparently worthless junk. Oh, and the company that hired him is trying to kill him.

This is what a Sci Fi movie should be, relying on an interesting premise, with future predictions based on current technology. Sci Fi is not space with explosions every five minutes.

Although there are a few minor plot holes, I found the movie very engaging, and thought the acting was competent, to say the least. Those who enjoyed Minority Report might also like Paycheck. It's worth a look.

bck

Details

Country:

USA Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 December 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Paycheck

Filming Locations:

Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$60,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$13,462,374, 28 December 2003

Gross USA:

$53,790,451

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$117,248,958

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks, Davis Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby SDDS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1