This adaptation of a Philip K. Dick short story tries so hard to get things just right that it's almost embarrassing to watch it fall down a steep set of stairs in the second act. Ben Affleck is at his Gigli-esque worst, displaying a grand total of two emotions as the genius-level intellectual willing to wipe the memory of his work after every assignment in exchange for a few extra dollar signs. Affleck doesn't deserve the full blame for this film's failings, though, as even Uma Thurman and Aaron Eckhart can't perform any miracles with a script so overcooked. Stiff, senseless dialog, uncomfortably dated pop culture references and an inherently flawed plot may have doomed it before the first role was cast. John Woo brings the goods during a few meaty action scenes, but even those suffer due to a loose interpretation of physics, a series of facepalm-worthy resolutions and a star who's simply not believable as the action hero he's playing. The high-concept introductory chapter works very well, but once this film sheds the skin of Dick's imagination and tries to take a few steps on its own, it stumbles in a series of bad directions.
Review of Paycheck
