SYNOPSIS: Oscar® nominees Harrison Ford (42) and Gary Oldman* (The Dark Knight) star with Liam Hemsworth (The Hunger Games) in this high-stakes espionage thriller based on Joseph Finder’s New York Times best seller. Fired from his telecom job, Adam Cassidy (Hemsworth) is forced by company CEO Nicolas Wyatt (Oldman) to infiltrate Wyatt’s longtime rival’s (Ford) company to steal trade secrets. Soon, Adam realizes that he’s caught between two ruthless players who will stop at nothing to win. But, desperate to win over an Ivy League beauty (Amber Heard) and help his blue-collar father, Adam risks everything in a dangerous race against time in this electrifying film directed by Robert Luketic. 

FILM REVIEW: Director Robert Luketic showed a nice hand at light comedy in Legally Blonde (2001), but it seems as though he also has an understanding for drama in the arena of the tensions of corporate deception. Though the twists here aren't so surprising, he does present the subject matter in a manner in which the average layman can decipher without having to have a PhD in Business Administration. The tribulations in which our hero has to deal with do feel somewhat artificial in nature, but are quite relatable and relevant in today’s hi-tech climate. Luketic seems to have structured it in similar ways to 1987’s “Wall Street,” as it enacts a white-collar chess match of sorts with each player taking ignorant risks due to the dire consequences involved. A more recent comparison can also be made with Steven Soderbergh’s early year release, “Side Effects” (minus the super director talent) as a handful of people jockey for positions to support their own personal and secretive agendas. It also is very reminiscent of Tom Cruise’s 1993’s The Firm, in which corporate espionage is the focal-point of the story. Nevertheless, Paranoia entails a mystery-like atmosphere that is enhanced by the key supporting actors such as Harrison Ford, Gary Oldman and eye-candy Amber Heard (The Rum Diary, 2011). Oldman and Ford’s appearance can be best described as looking especially grizzly, but they certainly haven't lost that twisted look of cruel intentions with their menacing smiles. They're both fun to watch, even though the movie's biggest leading man is Helmsworth.

Needless to say, this is a thriller flick and a pretty good one. Suspense is high and you never quite know what is going to happen next; though the ending definitely didn’t come as a surprise, to me. If you are into thrillers this is one to check out. The one thing about this flick is that I didn’t quite understand how they arrived at the title. It is called Paranoia and yet the characters weren’t really paranoid, but instead, cool calm and collected for the most part. If anything, I would imagine that the name is quite misleading and so far most people I have spoken to believe that it is a horror flick of sorts. Oh well, movie titles don’t really have to make sense I guess, but it is worth the theater visit and I would give it four out of five stars for relevance and intrigue.

BLU-RAY: The film is presented in widescreen in a 2.40:1 aspect ration preserving its theatrical format. The picture is just flawless. Not only the picture looks great in this release, also the sound it is good, a 5.1 Dolby Digital in English that provides a good complement to the picture. It also includes  English and Spanish subtitles.

VIDEO:
Widescreen (2:40:1) 16x9

AUDIO:
English DTS-HD MA 5.1 

Subtitles English  Spanish 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Deleted Scenes 

Privacy is Dead 

The Paranoia Begins 

The Players 

Theatrical Trailer 

Digital Copy