As I was strolling through the shopping mall on my way to lunch, I happened to see a movie poster for a new movie named "Paycheck," starring Ben Affleck and Uma Thurman. It was a typical stupid action movie poster shows Affleck running through a dark tunnel, looking over his shoulder as though he's being followed.

I've come to learn, over the vastness of my years, that Hollywood isn't interested in trying to peddle its movies to me. Frankly, I'm bored with the usual drivel that gets churned out every year, particularly with blockbusters. Hollywood hasn't really asked my opinion on the subject, though, so they continue to produce movie posters that appeal to the lowest common denominator. In this case, they find an "actor" like Ben Affleck to play the lead role, even though Affleck couldn't even play himself. That's all well and good; some people will go to a movie just because it has Ben Affleck and Uma Thurman as eye candy--hey, whatever floats their boat. But proclaiming that Paycheck is "an exciting thriller from the guy who directed MI-2 and Face/Off" does nothing to change my opinion of the movie.

What DID catch my eye, though, is the tiny little labeling that was at the top of the movie poster: "from the writer who brought you Blade Runner and Minority Report." Usually, that sort of thing doesn't interest me, either, because even John Crichton's stuff is hit and miss. I mean, Jurassic Park 2 was a complete pile of crap. What makes Paycheck interesting, though, is that the writer who wrote it was Philip K. Dick, one of my favorite authors and, in my opinion, one of the best sci-fi writers of the last century.

• Why Hollywood Likes to Make Movies of Philip K. Dick's Works.

So I'm intrigued by this movie, because Dick wrote some of the best books I've ever read. With that in mind, you might think that I would come across as one of these purists who--no matter what--will hate everything based on a Dick novel/story because it has tiny little errors and inconsistencies in it. Well, I'm not really a purist. I've read all of 9 or 10 of his novels, and I've still got a great big old stack of them left to read. (It was a lot easier to read before Shafty, Jr. came along; now, I'm lucky if I can get through the TV Guide.)

For those who haven't read any of Dick's works, his novels and short stories have now been directly made into 7 movies:

1. Blade Runner (from the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?)
2. Screamers (from Second Variety)
3. Total Recall (from the novel We can Remember it for you Wholesale)
4. Confessions d'un Bario (French- from Confessions of a Crap Artist)
5. Impostor (from Impostor)
6. Minority Report (from Minority Report); and
7. Paycheck (from Paycheck).

There are also several other movies in development based on Dick novels and short stories, including A Scanner Darkly (one of my favorites), King of the Elves, Adjustment Team, The Short Happy Life of the Brown Oxford, The Golden Man, Ubik, Time out of Joint (also a favorite of mine), Valis, Flow My Tears the Policeman Said (the best of Dick's novels, I think), and Radio Free Albemuth.

In addition, many of Dick's common themes pervade a number of movies (including The Matrix) and, although they'll never admit it, The Truman Show borrows HEAVILY from Dick's 1959 novel Time Out of Joint. In short, Philip K. Dick's works have been unbelievably influential, for good reason--the man has some of the most creative, best-reading plots out there. Dick's storylines (if Hollywood would follow them) would relieve a lot of boredom from the typical action blockbusters.

• Why Philip K. Dick's Works Don't Translate Well to the Big Screen.

That having been said, Hollywood rarely sticks to the story that Dick wrote. Even Blade Runner, at best, borrows little more than the names and some of the quaint futuristic features of Electric Sheep. (The term "Blade Runner" never even appears in Electric Sheep, a novel that focuses more on Rick Deckard's private life than his pursuit of the replicants.) In addition, Dick's stories don't always end up with happy endings, a conclusion that Hollywood can't stomach. Which is why, for example, they bastardized Minority Report to end up with a nice, neat happy ending.

Dick's stories succeed because of their plots and character development, but that doesn't seem to be enough for movie producers, who seem to think that we must also have big names (Harrison Ford, Arnold Governator, Tom Cruise, Ben Affleck), high-falootin' directors (Ridley Scott, Steven Spielburg, John Woo) and wow-'em special effects in order to tell the story. Unfortunately, the movies usually betray the real story that Dick was trying to tell.

• Why the Choice of Ben Affleck as the Hero is a Terrible One.

One of the key components of most Dickian (Dicksian?) stories is the concept of a flawed anti-hero. Of the movies I've seen where I also read the book, Minority Report was the only real movie that occasionally showed Anderson's (the protagonist) weakness--following the passing of his wife, he became addicted to illegal substances. And, to accomplish his ends, he willingly chose to break the law.

Again, I love Blade Runner, but Deckard's weaknesses were never shown. In the book, which took place at a time that real animals were virtually extinct, status was determined by the number of real animals (versus androids) one possessed. Deckard had had a real animal (a sheep, I think, but it's been quite a while) that had perished, and he was forever hoping to save up enough money to buy another one. Blade Runner was silent on the subject, other than Deckard's having asked Rachel whether the owl in the Tyrell Corporation was real or artificial.

I actually appreciated Tom Cruise's portrayal of Anderson in Minority Report, but I'm concerned that Ben Affleck doesn't have the acting range to play a Dickian anti-hero. Once again, I think he's been selected because he's a big name. That's really a shame.

• Why You Should Read the Story, Then See the Movie.

All in all, the only hope I have for Paycheck is that enough people see it to become interested in reading some of Philip K. Dick's novels and short stories. If you DO read, I'd highly suggest you check out Time Out of Joint or Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said. (A Scanner Darkly is also good, but probably not a good selection for a first read.) Keep in mind, if you do plan on seeing Paycheck, you might first consider reading the short story so that you can fully appreciate what Dick was trying to say (versus the ruined version that's going to end up on the big screen).

Yet another movie poster that tells us NOTHING about the movie. DIE!

Ben Affleck takes a break from all the action to get an eye exam!

He gets STICK!

Prediction: outstanding plot overshadowed by special effects!

Comments!

Joebob un-shut-ups:

Wait, you didn't see the movie, but you reviewed it anyway? Har har, yet another level of dumb has come alive. Now you can all review anything you want, regardless of the stupid reality of whether it's really good or not! Genious.

(#1)

Shafty splats:

This is the "movie preview" section.  By definition, movies get reviewed BEFORE they are seen.

And turns out that my "this movie will probably suck" prediction wasn't too far from the truth!

(#2)

Tony Guy! excretes:

I liked Minority report, maybe i'll check out the book! yAY!

(#3)

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