‘‘Paycheck’’ is the name of a John Woo-directed science fiction fugitive thriller starring Ben Affleck. It is also the only conceivable reason why Affleck's talented roster of co-stars would elect to appear in it with him.

Affleck's involvement in this plodding, over-saturated cinematic hairball is a bit less surprising. The star of ‘‘Gigli’’ and ‘‘Daredevil’’ has displayed a magnetic attraction to heinously bad movies of late, though it must be noted that ‘‘Paycheck’’ is actually something of an improvement over the aforementioned two. It's like someone took ‘‘Total Recall’’ and added some tawdry, ‘‘let's hit the hay, baby’’ Harold Robbins wordplay. Horrifying, yes, but still no ‘‘Gigli.’’

Adapted from the novella by late sci-fi seer Philip K. Dick — who also supplied the source material for ‘‘Blade Runner,’’ ‘‘Total Recall’’ and ‘‘Minority Report’’ — the movie features the author's usual twisty themes of fate and identity. Affleck plays Michael Jennings, a womanizing ‘‘reverse engineer’’ who accepts large sums of money from hi-tech corporations to lock himself in a room for one or two months and hack their competitors' technology. Afterward, to avoid legal culpability, Michael has all of his brain cells relating to the work zapped by a neurological technician (Paul Giamatti from ‘‘American Splendor’’) who also happens to be his best friend and personal athletic trainer. Giamatti is our first paycheck collector of the evening.

When the young, brash CEO (Aaron Eckhart, our second) of the Nexim corporation comes knocking at Michael's door, offering millions of dollars for a super-secret, three-year job involving lasers and optics, Michael accepts, even though it means three years of his life will be sponged out of existence, along with all knowledge of the project. Michael completes the job, but instead of finding the eight-figure salary promised, he receives only a plain manila envelope filled with 20 random trinkets, including a pack of cigarettes, a paper clip, a diamond ring and a crossword puzzle. Though he can't remember why, Michael forfeited his salary for the contents of the envelope.

Presciently, as if someone had foretold the future, the knick-knacks in the envelope help Michael escape a series of life-or-death predicaments. For reasons that become clear, Nexim wants him dead, and they've dispatched a henchman, played by Colm Feore (paycheck No. 3), to do their bidding. It's an ingenuous Mobius strip of a premise, just sticky enough to hold our attention while screenwriter Dean Georgaris (‘‘Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life’’) and Woo (‘‘Face/Off’’) do everything in their power to crinkle it up. Woo's florid Hong Kong sentimentality played well in his first few Hollywood efforts, but it gets more ridiculous with every outing. He could at least give the doves a rest.

None of the actors fare worse than Uma Thurman, playing a simpering love interest who helps Michael crack the riddle of his lost memories. After her vigorous, self-possessed performance in ‘‘Kill Bill — Vol. 1,’’ watching her play a sunburnt arm ornament is almost too painful to bear. Here's hoping the latter paycheck was a big one.

IF YOU GO

‘Paycheck’
Starring: Ben Affleck, Uma Thurman, Paul Giamatti, Aaron Eckhart
Playing: Now playing throughout the Valley
Rating: PG-13 (intense action violence, brief strong language)
Running time: 1 hour, 50 minutes
Grade: C