Paycheck - the settlement

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Movie
German title Paycheck - the settlement
Original title Paycheck
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 2003
length 114 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
JMK 12
Rod
Director John Woo
script Dean Georgaris
production Terence Chang ,
Michael Hackett ,
John Davis ,
John Woo
music John Powell
camera Jeffrey L. Kimball
cut Christopher Rouse ,
Kevin Stitt
occupation

Paycheck - Billing (Original title: Paycheck ) is an American movie of the genre of science fiction from 2003. It was directed by John Woo and written by Dean Georgaris based on the short story of the US author Philip K. Dick . The main roles were played by Ben Affleck and Uma Thurman .

action

The engineer Michael Jennings is engaged in the reverse engineering of complex technical devices in order to then recreate them for the manufacturer's competition. After that, the time the order was processed, and with it the knowledge about the functionality of the devices, is erased from his memory.

One day his friend James Rethrick offers him a double-digit million sum. This time the order will take three years instead of just a few weeks.

After this time has expired and his memory has been erased, Jennings learns that four weeks earlier he had given up the money (over $ 92 million) and instead left an envelope with a curious collection of apparently worthless everyday objects. At first he cannot believe it and tries to find out why he voluntarily gave up the money.

When he is arrested by the FBI on suspicion of treason and murder, he is able to escape from the envelope with the help of the cigarettes that set off a fire alarm. Another time, a motorcycle key helps him continue his escape. Little by little, the objects in the envelope help him to track down the truth: During the three years Jennings has built a device with which one can see into the future. By testing the machine, however, he had to recognize that it does not (only) predict the future, but creates it in the first place: If the device predicts a nuclear war, a nuclear first strike will be the result, which will trigger it. If the device prophesies a pandemic , the precautionary locking up of the presumably sick people in one place only triggers them. Jennings has realized that he can only avert this fate by renouncing the millions and the resulting search for the truth. Together with the scientist Rachel Porter, who also works for Rethrick, with whom he had developed a relationship over the past few years, he now decides to destroy the machine. While Jennings and Porter are being chased by killers, the police let him be. The machine is destroyed.

A lottery ticket, on which the main prize falls, secures Jennings and Porter a sum of 90 million dollars.

background

With a production budget of $ 60 million, the film grossed $ 96 million at box offices worldwide. In Germany the film was seen by 476,266 moviegoers. The film opened in German cinemas on January 22, 2004.

Reviews

Peter Travers described the film in Rolling Stone magazine on December 23, 2003 as a "weak reprint" of the film Minority Report . Ben Affleck seems "plump" ("lumpish") and Uma Thurman only acts in a reduced role of "girl". Travers describes the direction of John Woo as a "self-parody".

“Director John Woo was probably thinking of something like a Hitchcock thriller with a high-tech touch, but he only managed to create a stretched version of the Lauf work Auf der Flucht . [...] The basic constellation [...] plays with motifs from Hitchcock's The Invisible Third , which are pepped up with typical John Woo action and some nice effects. But the script [...] tends to be self-referential repetitions, and Uma Thurman also remains unusually pale in the role of Jennings' playmate Rachel. "

- Cinema

“Science fiction thriller that sacrifices its interesting plot to an overconstructed action story. A wooden main actor and a less sensitive dramaturgy let interest quickly wane. "

- Lexicon of international film

“Action grandmaster John Woo filmed a short story by the US science fiction author Philip K. Dick, who died in 1982 and who previously provided the templates for films such as Minority Report , Blade Runner and Total Recall . Not bad prerequisites for a good film, but the result is a run-of-the-mill action-blast-shooting-spectacle without depth, which completely gives away the very interesting basic situation. Even the top cast is of no use; the audience simply doesn't buy their game from the protagonists. For example, how does a scientist alias Ben Affleck become a perfect fighting machine within a very short time? Certainly one of the more harmless breaks - and a completely uninspired Uma Thurman. Better to stay at home! "

- prism

Awards

The film won the Key Art Award and was nominated for the Saturn Award of the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films nominated.

The German Film and Media Assessment FBW in Wiesbaden awarded the film the rating "valuable".

For this role and for the films Love with Risk - Gigli (2003) and Daredevil (2003), Ben Affleck received the negative award Golden Raspberry .

Trivia

The subject of self-fulfilling prophecy has already been explored in a short story by Alan Cogan with his Grundy Projector ; This should be a device with which people can look into the future for up to 2 years and thus influence the future more than they are initially aware of.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Release certificate for Paycheck - the billing . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , January 2004 (PDF; test number: 96 551 K).
  2. ↑ Age rating for Paycheck - the billing . Youth Media Commission .
  3. ↑ Paycheck at boxofficemojo.com (English), accessed December 14, 2011.
  4. ↑ Top 100 Germany 2004 on insidekino.de, accessed on December 14, 2011.
  5. ^ Film review by Peter Travers
  6. ↑ Paycheck - The billing on cinema.de
  7. ↑ Paycheck - The accounting. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  8. ^ Paycheck - The billing on prisma.de, accessed on December 14, 2011.
  9. ↑ Paycheck - the billing on fbw-filmbassy.com