Ben Affleck’s Forgotten 2000s Sci-Fi Movie Just Started Streaming on Paramount+

Ben Affleck is no stranger to science fiction. While the actor is best known for his roles in thrillers, crime dramas, and suspense films like Gone Baby Gone, Argo, and The Town, he has a long history with sci-fi that dates back to the late ‘90s with the blockbuster Armageddon. In the years since, Affleck has continued to dip his toes into the genre, but this 2003 sci-fi movie that just hit Paramount+ has mostly been forgotten in his larger roster of credits.

Just five years after making a major mark on the genre with Armageddon, Affleck returned to sci-fi for John Woo’s 2003 adaptation of the Philip K. Dick thriller Paycheck. The movie stars Affleck as a reverse engineer who has his memory wiped following a top-secret three-year project, only to find himself on the run with only a few random items to piece together his past actions and prevent a dystopian future. The movie was largely viewed as a low-budget, less innovative version of Total Recall and Minority Report and was released during a period with a high volume of other Affleck-led films, leading to it becoming a largely forgotten early 2000s sci-fi entry. Fans can now rediscover it after it started streaming on Paramount+ on April 1st.

Ben Affleck’s Paycheck Is Better Than Its Initial Reception

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Paycheck didn’t earn much love from viewers. The movie earned Affleck his ninth-lowest-rated film in terms of critic score with just a 27% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and while its audience score was much higher at 45%, it’s still a rotten consensus. Many viewed the film as having failed to live up to the source material’s potential, focusing more on mundane action rather than the philosophical questions of memory and identity posed in Dick’s story, and took issue with a central premise that was largely viewed as a weak, brute force mechanism. Even Affleck’s performance received some flak as being uninspired and mediocre compared to his earlier work.

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Paycheck definitely didn’t make waves, but it’s pretty easy to say that it’s a better or at least more watchable film than its initial reception. The movie is an underrated guilty pleasure sci-fi that centers on a pretty compelling hook – a man using 19 random items to navigate a future he cannot remember – that keeps you guessing right alongside Affleck’s Michael Jennings. It packs plenty of suspense and just as much stylish action, including bike chases, shootouts, and explosions, and relies on a fun, fast pace that keeps things engaging. The movie also features some pretty solid performances from Uma Thurman as romantic lead Rachel and Aaron Eckhart as James Rethrick, a billionaire CEO and Jennings’ former friend.

What’s New on Paramount+?

Subscribers looking for more to watch on Paramount+ have no shortage this April. The streamer has grown its content catalog with dozens of fresh titles this month, including Arrival, Catch Me If You Can, Galaxy Quest, Million Dollar Baby, Seabiscuit, and Shutter Island. Upcoming arrivals include Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie on April 20th, the Matlock Season 2 finale on April 23rd, and the final two seasons of Kenan & Kel on April 29th.

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