Paycheck

Paycheck is a 2003 American science fiction action film directed by John Woo. Written by Dean Georgaris, it is based on the 1953 short story "Paycheck" by Philip K. Dick. The film stars Ben Affleck, Uma Thurman, Aaron Eckhart, Paul Giamatti, Michael C. Hall, Joe Morton, and Colm Feore. The film was released on December 25, 2003, by Paramount Pictures in North America and DreamWorks Pictures internationally, to negative reviews but was a commercial success, grossing $117.2 million on a $60 million budget. Following Paycheck, Woo would not direct another American feature film for 20 years until Silent Night (2023). Plot In the near future, Michael Jennings is a reverse engineer; he analyzes his clients' competitors' technology and recreates it with improvements. To protect his clients' intellectual property and himself, Jennings undergoes memory wipes to remove knowledge of his engineering with aid of his friend Shorty. Jennings is contacted by his college roommate James Rethrick, the CEO of technology company Allcom. Rethrick offers Jennings a lengthy three-year job, during which he will be required to stay on Allcom's campus, in exchange for company stock. Jennings is hesitant but agrees. After being injected with the memory marker, Jennings is given a tour of the campus, where he meets and flirts with biologist Dr. Rachel Porter. Rethrick then introduces Jennings to his work partner, physicist William Dekker.