Paycheck 2003

Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press: Makes little of its fascinating premise and seems to show the once-mighty Woo running out of breath and ideas. Read more

Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune: Nothing in the movie is a surprise. Read more

Mark Rahner, Seattle Times: As a genius running for his life, Affleck's got the intensity of a frat brother racing to return a keg before he loses the deposit. Read more

Bob Townsend, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: You may not buy everything about this movie, but you'll likely leave it with a smile. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: We're left with the painful reality that Paycheck might get Alfred Hitchcock, but it certainly doesn't know Philip K. Dick. Read more

Manohla Dargis, Los Angeles Times: Paycheck is the sort of noisy nonsense that Woo's earlier action movies made irrelevant, but alas not extinct. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: Ben Affleck is a handsome fellow. No argument there. What he isn't is a particularly compelling leading man. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: The amazing thing about John Woo's steely, impersonal adaptation of Philip K. Dick sci-fi story ... is how it vanishes in front of our eyes even as we watch it. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: With its bland central character, and collapsible contraption of a plot, Paycheck leaves little after-effect. Read more

Philip Wuntch, Dallas Morning News: Efficient and occasionally fun -- but never to the extent that you can overlook its shortcomings. Read more

Jon Strickland, L.A. Weekly: Too smart for a mindless actioneer, and too slick to capture the full moral weight of Dick's dystopia. Read more

Gene Seymour, Newsday: Paycheck's no breakthrough, but it's the tightest John Woo movie since his Hong Kong heyday. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: The whole project bears the marks of a bored director, and a script in constant flux. Read more

Jack Mathews, New York Daily News: The second half of the film is one overlong action sequence linked to another. Read more

Elvis Mitchell, New York Times: This smooth but bland thriller may be the best we could possibly expect from John Woo directing a Philip K. Dick adaptation, especially when Ben Affleck is added to the mix. Read more

Jay Boyar, Orlando Sentinel: Affleck gives a sleek, economical performance as Jennings. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Paycheck is bad enough that it may convince some movie-goers not to go to another film just because it was made by John Woo. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: There are countless fascinating possibilities involved in Philip K. Dick's story, and I'm kind of sad that the ones ranking highest in the minds of the filmmakers was the opportunity to have chase scenes and blow stuff up real good. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: Without ever quite becoming boring, Paycheck seems to narrow into a routine pattern, and a plot that at first had nuance and the hint of a broader meaning degenerates into chases and standard action. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Every scene screams, 'I'm only doing this for the money.' Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: A bloated thriller that runs out of steam long before its final interminable chase. Read more

Derek Adams, Time Out: There's a sense of treading water about this movie. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Though the premise is provocative enough, the execution feels like a host of other violent action-drenched movies. Read more

Robert Koehler, Variety: Ranks with Impostor as among the least memorable of big-screen adaptations of the late S.F. author's canon. Read more

Mark Holcomb, Village Voice: The law of diminishing returns appears to have caught up with Hollywood's Philip K. Dick infatuation. Read more