Genre movies often get described as disposable, but something as paper-thin as Paranoia isn’t even sturdy enough to warrant such a dismissive description. Based on Joseph Finder’s 2004 novel, this corporate thriller radiates noir-ish style so innocuously that it barely registers. People’s lives are put in danger, our main character runs the risk of losing his soul for his career aspirations, and yet nothing feels particularly urgent. In six months, you’ll catch 30 minutes of this movie on an airplane, be mildly engaged and then forget all about it for the rest of your life.
The films stars Liam Hemsworth as Adam, a hotshot New Yorker working at a top-flight tech company run by the snide, aloof Nicolas Wyatt (Gary Oldman). After being fired for mouthing off to his boss, Adam decides to blow what’s left of his discretionary cash at a high-profile club, racking up a five-figure bill. Annoyed with the kid but seeing an opportunity, Wyatt tells Adam that he can work off the debt if he does him a favor: infiltrate his competitor Jock Goddard’s (Harrison Ford) company and uncover what top-secret new smartphone he’s developing.
Paranoia’s premise screams out for the suspenseful touch of Alfred Hitchcock or the knotty plot machinations of David Mamet. Unfortunately, instead we have Robert Luketic, who’s directed everything from Legally Blonde to Monster-in-Law to 21. Give him credit for having eclectic tastes, but be warned that Paranoia feels like the work of a man trying very hard to exude an edgy attitude that doesn’t come naturally. Whether it’s Adam’s occasional fatalistic voiceover or the sleek, money-is-the-root-of-all-evil treatment of New York’s elite, the film swipes its ethos from every pulp thriller it can. But Paranoia is all surface, its sinister undertones and moral rot utterly ephemeral.
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