History Film / Paycheck

##a diamond ring - [[spoiler:allows a street kid to steal it; had it not happened, Jennings would not have returned to the bank where he received the envelope so he could ask more questions about its origins; also used in the alternate ending in which Jennings proposes to Porter.]]

* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: set between 2004-2007, a few years after the film's 2003 release. Deliberately in contrast to Dick's original 1953 short story, which depicted a much more distant (and near-dystopian) future with many more obvious sci-fi elements.
* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: Michael and Rachael sneak into a chemistry lab at a high school to use the microscope to examine a clue. When they're leaving, there are kids all over the hallways. No one seems to notice or care that there are two adults wandering the hall, while school is in session, that no one there knows...

* MexicanStandoff: Happens 3 different times in the film!

* GambitRoulette: Jennings uses a MemoryGambit, prophecies and a time portal in his plan to outsmart his opponents.

##a BMW key w/ alarm - [[spoiler:allows him to identify and utilize a means of escape: a motorcycle]].

##a diamond ring - [[spoiler:allows a street kid to steal it; had it not happened, Jennings would not have returned to the bank where he received the envelope so he could ask more questions about its origins; also used in the alternate ending in which Jennings proposes to Porter.]].

##a crossword puzzle - [[spoiler:locates hardware bug on the machine, allowing him to repair it]].

* OldCopYoungCop: There is a twenty-year age difference between the two FBI agents. Dodge, the older one, has some good gut feelings and reasonable insights. His partner Klein is less imaginative, but is practical and efficient. They are also a SaltAndPepper pair, and while neither is whacky or a hothead, Klein (the Caucasian agent) is more strait-laced.

->''How much is a key to a bus locker worth? One day it's worth 25 cents, the next day thousands of dollars. In this story I got to thinking that there are times in our lives when having a dime to make a phone call spells the difference between life and death. Keys, small change, maybe a theater ticket -- how about a parking receipt for a Jaguar? All I had to do was link this idea up with time travel to see how the small and useless, under the wise eyes of a time traveler, might signify a great deal more. He would know when that dime might save your life. And, back in the past again, he might prefer that dime to any amount of money, no matter how large.''
-->-- '''Creator/PhilipKDick''' on the original short story

Michael Jennings has a great job. He's a reverse engineer, paid large sums of money to figure out how rival technology works and improve on it. In exchange for his massive paychecks, he must have his recent memory wiped after each job to prevent any information leaks. Since those memories are of him doing long arduous work that he does not mind losing, he is left with "highlights" of time spent with friends and on vacations. Life is good.

His latest project at Allcom was supposed to be his biggest yet, lasting ''three years'' (which were wiped upon completion) but earning him enough money to finally retire.... but something has gone wrong. His 8-figure payment has been forfeited in favour of a manila envelope full of random odds and ends. The FBI wants to talk to him about his apparent involvement in the death of another engineer. A lot of people are trying to kill him. Now Jennings finds himself in the strange position of having to reverse-engineer his own future... before time runs out.

''Paycheck'' (2003) is a reasonably faithful film adaptation of the Creator/PhilipKDick short story of the same name, starring Creator/BenAffleck, Creator/UmaThurman, Creator/PaulGiamatti, Creator/ColmFeore, and Creator/AaronEckhart, and directed by Creator/JohnWoo.

* HotScientist: Jennings meets a beautiful woman at a fancy dinner who turns out to be a biologist.

##a pack of cigarettes labelled "Smokeless" - [[spoiler:actually regular cigarrettes used to escape from the FBI by setting off the fire suppressants in an interrogation room, creating a smoke screen – without it he would have died during interrogation]].

##a fortune from a fortune cookie with lucky numbers printed on the back - initially it only seems to be [[spoiler:proof of the envelope's prophetic nature, lucky numbers matching the lottery winning ones]], [[ChekhovsGun but in the end]] [[spoiler:it also clues to the location of the winning lottery ticket which totally reimburses all Jennings' financial losses]].

###half a poker chip - [[spoiler:used as a proof that Jennings is a casino customer, which allows him to stay in the casino at night and thus evade the security police during the curfew]].

* CollapsingLair: During the climax the lab with the machine in it goes down in an explosion.
* CondensationClue: [[spoiler:Jennings wrote a note to Rachel on her bathroom mirror so she would know he hadn't abandoned her.]]

* RetroactivePreparation: A variant. Jennings doesn't have a time machine, but he ''did'' have access to the time portal.

##an unnecessary postage stamp on the envelope - [[spoiler:contains microfilm with snapshots from the future – the fact that it's Albert Einstein on the stamp is a clue]].

%%* HighConcept

* NoNameGiven: In the original short story, we're never told Jennings' first name.