Woo was interested in the film because he wanted to impart a hopeful message to younger viewers, as well as to pay homage to one of his favourite directors, Alfred Hitchcock.[3][4]
Woo admitted he had not read any of Dick's books before directing the film; after reading the script, he wanted to make changes like exploring the theme of control over one's destiny, and adding in more of a love story[3]
Woo wanted to downplay more of the science fiction elements in the original script and focus on the humans, in particular the romantic love story[5]
Roger Ebert stated that while he enjoyed Paycheck on a basic level, he was disappointed by Woo's uninspired direction, stating that the director seemingly worked on the film with a "clipboard and a checklist, making sure everyone is killed in the right order."[6]
Robert Koehler of Variety called it "among the least memorable of big-screen adaptations" of Dick's work, criticising Affleck's performance as "out of sync" with what his role required[7]
Mick LaSalle said that the film loses steam in the second half as the plot "degenerates into chases and standard action"[8]
In a 2023 interview with IndieWire, Woo said, "Because I failed with Paycheck, I didn't get a good script offered to me for a long, long time."[9]
