SYNOPSIS: The high stakes thriller Paranoia takes us deep behind the scenes of global success to a deadly world of greed and deception. The two most powerful tech billionaires in the world (Harrison Ford and Gary Oldman) are bitter rivals with a complicated past who will stop at nothing to destroy each other. A young superstar (Liam Hemsworth), seduced by unlimited wealth and power falls between them, and becomes trapped in the middle of the twists and turns of their life-and-death game of corporate espionage. By the time he realizes his life is in danger, he is in far too deep and knows far too much for them to let him walk away.

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.

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