Paycheck

Paycheck is by no means a profound film, but it is a hugely entertaining and streamlined adaptation of Philip K. Dick's science fiction novella.

Ben Affleck's smooth exterior suits him perfectly for the role of the shallow computer genius Michael Jennings, who is willing to do anything at all as long as he can look forward to a fat paycheck. Michael Jennings works in industrial espionage, and after every completed job he has his memory wiped so that he cannot reveal what he has been working on. For obvious reasons he does not give much thought to ethics or sound business morals. It is the money that counts.

Michael Jennings' perfect life comes crashing down completely when he is cheated by his old friend Jimmy Rethrick, who owns the powerful Rethrick Constructions. Apparently Michael has waived his payment, a sum running into many millions, for three years' work - and lost his memory. On top of that, he also has the police on his back. But why, he of course cannot remember!

Michael's only hope turns out to be 20 small items which he sent to himself before his memory was wiped. They are all pieces of a larger puzzle that is meant both to get him out of the mess and to give him some idea of what he was actually working on at Rethrick Constructions for three years.

It is the tight plot and director John Woo's flair for punchy, high-impact suspense that are the film's main attractions. The human drama, the love story between Michael and the biologist Rachel Porter, plays only a supporting role, and like its hero, the film is not really interested in the ethical and moral aspects that are otherwise inextricably bound up with the sci-fi genre.