Blu-Ray Review: Paranoia

The technological thriller Paranoia comes out on Blu-ray and DVD today, and while you probably avoided the film in theaters, you may be wondering if it’s worth renting or buying. Read my review after the break to find out.

Paranoia stars Liam Hemsworth as Adam Cassidy, a low level inventor at a major tech company run by Nicholas Wyatt (Gary Oldman). After mouthing off to Wyatt during an unsuccessful pitch, he and his friends are fired. So, they decide to take the company credit card to a club. To avoid getting arrested for credit card fraud, Cassidy is blackmailed into helping Wyatt. He will have to infiltrate their competitor, Wyatt’s mentor Jock Goddard (Harrison Ford) and get information on a new smart phone. Everything seems great for Cassidy at first. He gets a new apartment, new car, new clothes, and enough money to help take care of his sick father (Richard Dreyfuss). Unfortunately, the rabbit hole is much deeper than he expected, and Cassidy finds himself in a fight between two ruthless and powerful tech moguls.

I wanted to like this movie. It has a great cast, including legends Oldman, Ford, and Dreyfuss, all of whom chew the scenery up when on screen. Amber Heard plays love interest opposite Hemsworth, and they are both fine in their roles, if unimpressive. The concept is very relevant right now, and there’s even a bit of a twist that you won’t see coming unless you watched the trailer.

Unfortunately, Paranoia is just plain boring. The plot is a bit convoluted, yet somehow unoriginal and predictable. The technology used looks to be about 15 years in the future, but by all accounts, the film is set in 2013. The filmmakers wasted a good opportunity on a generic thriller.

The extras on the Blu-Ray are a bit more interesting. There are four deleted scenes and three featurettes that focus on the concept of privacy in a digital age, the making of the film, and great cast, respectively.

Rating: 2.5/5 Stars