John Woo's latest, based on a story by Phillip K. Dick (BLADERUNNER was based on his DO ANDROID'S DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP) has a cool idea & great production value-but is surprisingly unengaging.Ben Afleck is a guy who is able to 'reverse engineer' almost anything. He's paid big bucks by billion dollar companies to work for them-and when he's done doing the work they erase his memory. His friend turns him on to a job where he'll make over 90 million dollars in three years. It doesn't quite work out.When he 'wakes up' three years later, with the past three years of his memory erased, he finds out that he signed away his massive paycheck and has only a pocketful of odds and ends to show for it. Turns out all these objects are clues as to what he was working on-and he has to figure out what that something was.Let's just say it involves time travel to a certain extent.Uma Thurman is a scientist he had fallen in love with-but because he has no memory of it he has to start all over with her. And she helps him remember the secret project he was working on.As I said, the ideas are cool but the story just doesn't suck you in and you don't become very attached to any of the characters. If you're a Woo fan then see this. Otherwise, no big loss.
John Woo's latest, based on a story by Phillip K. Dick (BLADERUNNER was based on his DO ANDROID'S DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP) has a cool idea & great production value-but is surprisingly unengaging.Ben Afleck is a guy who is able to 'reverse engineer' almost anything. He's paid big bucks by billion dollar companies to work for them-and when he's done doing the work they erase his memory. His friend turns him on to a job where he'll make over 90 million dollars in three years. It doesn't quite work out.When he 'wakes up' three years later, with the past three years of his memory erased, he finds out that he signed away his massive paycheck and has only a pocketful of odds and ends to show for it. Turns out all these objects are clues as to what he was working on-and he has to figure out what that something was.Let's just say it involves time travel to a certain extent.Uma Thurman is a scientist he had fallen in love with-but because he has no memory of it he has to start all over with her. And she helps him remember the secret project he was working on.As I said, the ideas are cool but the story just doesn't suck you in and you don't become very attached to any of the characters. If you're a Woo fan then see this. Otherwise, no big loss.
