This movie is good...but not great. If you're like me and you own The 6th Day and Minority Report on DVD you'll think that Paycheck is a total ripoff of other sci-fi flicks. If I hadn't seen those 2 movies I might have liked more Paycheck. One last thing, if any movie director is reading this, PLEASE stop having those "annoying buddies" in your movies, those stupid characters who are helping the hero and are supposedly funny because they don't seem to have as much fun as the hero himself...… Expand

Another film created by John woo the same guy who made that crap, Once a thief, really lost everything in paycheck. It's not great, it's just plain stupid.

Who needs plot when you can blow things up?

Highly entertaining movie with some very clever ideas about time travel. Well done!

Liked it the first time when it was the Bourne Identity. Thanks for this fine piece of crap, Ben "I wish I was as talented as Matt Damon, so I'm going to copy his filmography" Affleck. Don't quit your day job, Mr. Lopez.

Who would have thought that a film written by the guy who wrote Minority Report, directed by the guy who did Hard Boiled and FaceOff, and featuring the star of Kill Bill could be.......well so incredibly average?

Paycheck is forgettable entertainment. Something you may enjoy a little bit while watching it, but hours later you?ll forget about it, mostly because you don?t care. John Woo, one of the best action directors of the last twenty years, directed Paycheck and while not all his films have been good, they have all had some great action sequences. This film is greatly lacking in an action sequence of any intensity or fun. It?s all very basic and uninteresting. Michael Jennings is a reverse engineer. He takes existing computer hardware/software, breaks it down going backwards, and reassembles it into something new for the company he is working for. Because this is illegal, somehow, he has to have to his memory erased. He gets an offer from a friend of his, Rethrick (Eckhart), who tells him they?re working on something big. It will take three years to complete and he will make at least at least ten digits of stock options. Everything seems to go slickly, except that, when Michael tries to access his stocks, he finds, it?s not there, and suddenly his life is in danger. And, with exception to Rachel (Thurman), his love-interest, he seems to have no allies. He has a package with 19 or 20 objects in it, all in which he will need later in the movie. The film?s logic and plotting is awful, but that?s okay because this isn?t a film that needs to utilize logic. The film fails on stimulating any good action scenes. But the real problem I had with what was happening with the items he has. (Spoiler ahead) If he looked into the future, and saw that he would get killed, how could he change his future? The whole ?logic? of looking into the future is that it has already happened. It is his destiny, if he does something to change it, then it never should have existed. I don?t know if I am explaining thing correctly or comprehensibly here, it?s just that, he shouldn?t be able to change things that he would have to do as his destiny. (Spoiler end) Running mostly on adrenaline and a gimmick, it?s unlike from other Christmas movies in that it?s not unmotivated, intense or extravagant, and it clearly wasn?t prepared with a single stare at on the Academy Awards. The most interesting parts of Paycheck are the parts that consist of borrowing other scenes & ideas from other movies. Philip K. Dick, who is also the inspiration for better movies, like Blade Runner, Total Recall, and Minority Report, bases the film on a short story. This film is a dumb-downed assembly-line version of those entries, only lacking in character development, excitement, or cool visuals. Also, Woo seems to have been trying to shoot for a movie Hitchcock would have made. And didn?t Affleck?s buddy do an amnesia movie last year. The film isn?t original at all. The acting in Paycheck is linear with the quality of the screenplay, which is a range between hilariously absurd and insultingly stupid. Affleck plays Jennings blandly. I suspect he wanted to do this movie to erase his memory of Gigli. And Aaron Eckhart as Rethrick comes as even more colorless. But Uma Thurman, she was the biggest problem with the film I had. Her acting is just fine, it?s just, every time I see her on screen, I want to see her whip out a sword and cut everybody up, like she did so gracefully in Kill Bilil. That would have been exciting, but instead, she is relegated to just a love-interest. If it?s a fast-paced, exciting movie with cool action scenes and colorful characters, beautiful backgrounds and fun special effects, Peter Pan is your movie. … Expand

John Woo has to be one of, if not the worst mainstream, big-budget directors of all time. There was absolutely no good reason whatsoever to include his fetishes for doves and motorcycles in this movie. The concept here was decent, as are all Philip K. Dick stories, but the screenwriters mangle it and Affleck chews heavily on the scenery. Uma was decent though.

I didnt think this movie was as bad as most people say it is. I watched it, not knowing what it was even about, and it was very entertaining and had a good story.

[***SPOILERS***] I think I can explain what you don't understand Cameron S. All the machine does is read his palm and scan his brain to figure out what's MOST LIKELY to happen in his future. This, of course, can be changed, and his having the items, changes the odds in his favor, creating a different MOST LIKELY future.

[***SPOILERS***] I think I can explain what you don't understand Cameron S. All the machine does is read his palm and scan his brain to figure out what's MOST LIKELY to happen in his future. This, of course, can be changed, and his having the items, changes the odds in his favor, creating a different MOST LIKELY future.

I found it quite entertaining, waiting to see what he would use for what. Don't understand why there's such little love here. I guess some people just can't seeem to understand the movie. (((I caught a blooper though, during the cop vs. motorcycle chase through the tunnel. The flashing cop lights get knocked off and then reappear for a few seconds before being gone again.))) Anyways, this is a good movie rent it. Almost Donnie Darko-esque, but with more action and more hollywood. Need to pay attention to grasp this movie.… Expand

There were a lot of films about time travel made in the past. Some better, some worse. Usually better. 'Paycheck' does give a new idea about time travel, but it could have been much, much more. Same goes for the action. (We've all seen better shootouts and motorcycle chases). If I didn't know that this was directed by John Woo, I would never even think that. And same goes for the acting. (Especially note the always beard changing 'shorty' character. He's more convincing than anyone else, and that says a lot.) To make a long story short: If you're looking for some brainless, popcorn fun, I would recommend this product! If you're lookig for a film based on a Philip K. Dick book about memory loss, I would sugest 'Blade Runner', or even 'Total Recall'!… Expand

Really really good movie.

Bad movie. The story is too much like minority report ( I know it's written by the same person). And everything in this movie has probably been done in other movies. And the sets look cheap, like everthing is made of plastic when it's suppose to be metal.

What a piece of garbage. From the writing to the acting, this movie was made to appeal to the lowest common denomenator of viewers.

This movie was all right, with an interesting way an envelope of everyday items helps Ben make it through the adventure. But the film felt very familar, and has been done better in other sci-fi movies. It's worth seeing if all you want is a fun action movie in between all the sad oscar season dramas that are out right now. Plus Uma Thurman is cute as ever. -lR

What a pathetic movie. Affleck seems to have returned to the past; his acting is mediocre and the scenes have been very badly planned. More money it seems has been spent on the production of special effects than producing and developing the screen play. Story is predictable, clumsy and badly thought out. Avoid at all costs!

I'm giving it a 9, just to balance everybody off, though it's probably more somewhere around an 8 *grin*

Just plain crappy. Weird sci fi, hard to follow. But I don't like sci fi, so maybe my opinion isn't very accurate.

[***SPOILERS***] This is one paycheck you WILL want to cash in! High flying stunts, thought provoking ending, where Ben Affleck finds out his most trusted lover did it, and high flying special effects make this a winner!

Well done film!

This is really a thought out movie for cerebral exercise.

THe story has premise, but John Woo's excecution renders the movie mediocre. Even the action ain't all that great. There are moments when the brillinace of the sci-fi story does surface, particularly consequences of looking into the future, but it's not enough to save this film from being merely mediocre stuff.