User:FrostFairBlade/sandbox/Paycheck (film)

• Paycheck (2003)
  • In October 2002, Woo became attached to Paycheck (2003), based on a short story by Philip K. Dick.
  • A Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Pictures co-production
  • Woo was interested in the film because he wanted to impart a hopeful message to younger viewers, as well as to pay homage to one of his favourite directors, Alfred Hitchcock.
  • Woo admitted he had not read any of Dick's books before directing the film; after reading the script, he wanted to make changes like exploring the theme of control over one's destiny, and adding in more of a love story
  • Woo wanted to downplay more of the science fiction elements in the original script and focus on the humans, in particular the romantic love story
  • Roger Ebert stated that while he enjoyed Paycheck on a basic level, he was disappointed by Woo's uninspired direction, stating that the director seemingly worked on the film with a "clipboard and a checklist, making sure everyone is killed in the right order."
  • Robert Koehler of Variety called it "among the least memorable of big-screen adaptations" of Dick's work, criticising Affleck's performance as "out of sync" with what his role required
  • Mick LaSalle said that the film loses steam in the second half as the plot "degenerates into chases and standard action"
  • In a 2023 interview with IndieWire, Woo said, "Because I failed with Paycheck, I didn't get a good script offered to me for a long, long time."

References

Cited literature

• Elder, Robert K., ed. (2005). John Woo: Interviews. Conversations with Filmmakers Series. University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-1-57806-776-3. Retrieved 2023-11-29.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
  • Elder, Robert K. "John Woo: Movie by Movie, 1968 to 1990". In Elder (2005).
  • Macias, Patrick. "John Woo: Hot-handed God of Hong Kong Film Directors". In Elder (2005).
  • Woo, John. "John Woo: Early Oral History". In Elder (2005).
• Heard, Christopher (2000). Ten Thousand Bullets: The Cinematic Journey of John Woo. Lone Eagle Publishing. ISBN 978-1-58065-021-2. Retrieved 2023-12-05.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
• Stokes, Lisa Odham; Hoover, Michael (1999). City on Fire: Hong Kong Cinema. Verso. ISBN 978-1-85984-716-9. Retrieved 2024-04-12.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)

External links

• Hard Boiled at IMDb
• Hard Boiled at the Hong Kong Movie DataBase
• Hard Boiled at AllMovie
• Hard Boiled at Letterboxd
• Hard Boiled at the TCM Movie Database