PAYCHECK [2003] Ben Affleck, Uma Thurman ; R 12A

After Affleck's 'Gigli' and after John Woo's 'Windtalkers', both primary participants in this movie really needed a hit, sadly, this isn't it. Affleck's character is essentially a 'for hire' engineer who spends weeks on end working on top secret product developments just to have his memory erased at the end of it all. A big job comes up, with a development time of years rather than weeks, and it essentially goes pair shaped. Which subsequently results in a memory-less Affleck running around trying to figure out what the hell he did, with only a girlfriend and a bunch of everyday items to help him on his way. The film's story did have potential, and if it had been handled by more experienced hands, it may not have turned out half bad. But as it were, action guru Woo got the job, and in an attempt to bring the story to the for-front, he sacrifices all that he is good at, the over the top larger than life action filming he is famous for. This results in 'Paycheck' seeming tired, strained and very unbalanced with Mr. J Lo now positively annoying rather than watchable. On the upside, the films final quarter makes up for a lot, with some nicely put together fight scenes. But because Woo flat out refuses to let rip, he essentially prevents the film from becoming anything more than genre fodder. Only for the curious.

2/5