Paycheck

(Yes, I know. It's been a while. I intend to do better in the future, but we'll see.)

This film raises several interesting philosophical questions, like: Is the future written? To what extent do our memories make us who we are? Is the agility of a motorcycle preferable to the security of an armored car in a high-speed chase? And, how much training would it take for a computer scientist with a stick to beat a team of special agents with machine guns? Let's take them one at a time.

Is the future written? If you believe in free will, it seems at first that the answer must be no. People have the power to change the future. I could sleep in tomorrow. I might not. The choice is up to me, and right now, not even I know how many times I'm going to hit snooze. (Well, I can probably safely say, "too many," but not specifics.) If this option is available to me, and I have real freedom to choose, then you can't say with certainty what I will choose, right?

Except I know how many times I hit snooze this morning. Certainly that knowledge doesn't change the fact that I made that choice. Future me knowing what past me did doesn't rob past me of agency. It's just that I already made the choice, so know I can know what I chose.

Consider then, the following: What if one could step outside of time and view the whole grand play of existence in a single moment? Suddenly it makes no sense to talk about past, present, and future. All three are visible at once. We could consider this state almost like being "infinitely far" in the future, and so knowledge of all choices is available--from the perspective of someone outside of time, those choices have already been made. This person's knowledge of what I consider the future doesn't rob me of my ability to make those choices any more than my knowledge of what I did yesterday prevents me from having chosen then.

Thus far, so reasonable. Things get messy, however, when the person outside of time then tries to interfere. Say now I am the one able to step outside of time. There, I can view the consequences of my actions, and then, if I am unhappy with the outcome, I can step back in to time and make different choices. Presumably, this would lead to a different set of outcomes.

So which do I see when I step outside of time? Here we have a paradox. If I never saw the bad outcome, I would never make the other choice, but if I don't make the wrong choice, the bad outcome is not available for me to view. I can only conclude that the future is written, though it is written by us.

Now, to what extent do our memories make us who we are? I'm going to forebear talking much about this one, because I'm really not sure and I have a story idea in mind exploring this theme more fully. I don't know when I'll ever get around to actually writing it, but I don't want to spoil anything here.

As for motorcycles and armored cars, it seems to me it's a draw. On the one hand, if you're good on a motorcycle, the agility can be critical, especially if the chase is taking place in some crowded area, which it usually is. On the other hand, if you're being shot at, a motorcycle really can't do much to protect you from bullets. Also, in an armored car, the person riding shotgun can perform that function properly, whereas on a motorcycle they can't. If it were me, I'd choose the car, simply because I have no idea how to drive a motorcycle.

And about that fight scene...it was unfortunate. For a movie that had been so clever for so long to descend into ridiculousness at the climax was a bit of a disappointment. The people of Hollywood need to get out and meet some actual engineers. The real problem is that they got so close to doing it well. Engineers can fight (at least in movies) but they would do so by MacGyver-ing their way out, not by punching their way out. Iron Man is the model to have in mind here. The brawn comes from machines, and the real power is in the brain.

What's that? This review is almost over and I haven't told you if the movie was any good or not? It was. It solved the fundamental problem with escape puzzles, which is that the person who sets them can never be the person who solves them. I do recommend it.