The film stars Ben Affleck, Uma Thurman, Aaron Eckhart, Paul Giamatti, Michael C. Hall, Joe Morton, and Colm Feore.

To protect his clients' intellectual property and himself, Jennings undergoes memory wipes to remove knowledge of his engineering with aid of his friend Shorty.

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.

Rethrick studies Jennings' habits while at Allcom and discovers that he became romantically involved with Porter and left a secret message to meet her at a cafe later that day.

After the chaos dies down and the FBI begin a full investigation, Agent Dodge finds the watch Jennings had used, but consequently hides it and declares him dead.

Recalling the fortune cookie message from the envelope, Jennings looks in the cage and finds a lottery ticket for the winning jackpot of US$90 million.

[4] The film features several of director Woo's trademarks, including two Mexican standoffs, the appearance of a dove and a birdcage similar to the one seen in 1992's Hard Boiled.

The site's critics consensus states, "Though Dick's short story has an intriguing premise, Woo reduces it to a lot of meaningless chases, shoot-outs, and explosions.

Club gave the film a positive review, calling it a "smart thriller" and praising "Woo's wonderful sense of timing and rhythm.

"[8] Chris Barsanti of Film Threat also praised Paycheck, calling it "one of the more competent and reassuring action movies to come out for quite some time.

"[9] Roger Ebert gave the film two stars (out of four), saying that he "enjoyed the movie" but felt that it "exploits [Philip K. Dick's story] for its action and plot potential, but never really develops it.

[15] While hosting Saturday Night Live, Ben Affleck joked that he would have walked out of the premiere and asked for his money back until he realized he was in the movie.