Paranoia

Paranoia. First off Paranoia is a pretty cool, one word title. Most people in the world are paranoid about one thing or another. Second, Paranoia has a killer cast (Harrison Ford, Gary Oldman, and Liam Hemsworth) and third: Paranoia has an interesting plot about corporate espionage. With all of this going for it, one has to wonder what could go wrong. (Besides how many times it's possible to write the word 'Paranoia' in a review...

Adam Cassidy has no delusions about the world. He knows that hard work, a good education, and a likable personality aren’t enough to succeed in this world. One has to have something, someone can’t refuse. An idea special enough to get recognized. So when he and his associates are shot down pretty quick and then fired while making a presentation to technology guru Nicholas Wyatt of Wyatt Industries he gets a little mad. He and his buddies then go out on the town...on the company card. Wyatt though is a nice guy and is willing to forgive Adam his $16,000 debt. That is, IF Adam is willing to go to work for Jock Goddard, Wyatt's competition, and steal company secrets. Adam is then forced into a battle between giants in the techno world where lies, bribery, and murder is all part of a day’s work.

Every summer you have the lower budget movies that try to compete in the heavily funded Hollywood market. Most times they live up to their budget and are just mediocre movies. 2013 has been the year of the fantastic low budget movies. Movies that I went into with low expectations and then left with a new Top Five Favorite Movies of the Year contender. Movies like The Great Gatsby, Now You See Me, and The Purge. Unfortunately Paranoia fails to continue that trend. It comes so close to delivering the jaw dropping twist but just falls short. I loved the movie right up until the last ten minutes. Then it devolves into a completely blanket, dumb, and unexciting ending. It felt like the writer/director wanted to deliver the knock out left hook but was scared to take the chance…and the movie suffers for it. Paranoia is a movie that could’ve been a homerun, but instead settled for a softer, less risky bunt.