I was hoping for noir but I saw a generic thriller. Maybe it’s the corporate spying aspect or the overwhelming importance of a lucrative career that serves as a tough sell for me, but this is a slickly made, not very ambitious story about ambitious people. It reminded me of other films like Wall Street or The Devil’s Advocate where Al Pacino literally played the devil, and he was the head of a law firm as I recall, luring Keanu Reeves into shaky moral ground and soul-endangering wealth. I wasn’t a big fan of those films either. Maybe I don’t really care about people risking their mortal souls for their careers all that much, or maybe Paranoia just isn’t that exciting a story.

Liam Hemsworth plays attractive tech company employee Adam, frustrated with his gig working for cold boss Nicolas Wyatt (Gary Oldman). Coincidental plot twists lead to Adam infiltrating Wyatt’s competitor Jock Goddard’s (Harrison Ford) company. Why? To discover information about a new smart phone under development.

Since Adam doesn’t want to end up like his unwell, unsuccessful dad (Richard Dreyfuss), he initially embraces the spying gig just as eagerly as Ford and Oldman embrace their apparent contest for the prize of Ultimate Actor in their slightly over the top scenes together. Naturally, Adam has misgivings, Wyatt won’t let him quit spying, and Adam gets drawn deeply into a feud between the two business titans. Adam’s doomed voice overs and random gun play aside, none of this seems too ominous. Where’s Al Satan Pacino when you need him?

Overall an enjoyable, but very slight thriller which you will enjoy more if you care a lot about corporate intrigue.

Paranoia, directed by Robert Luketic and starring Liam Hemsworth, Gary Oldman, Amber Heard, Harrison Ford, Lucas Till, Embeth Davidtz, Julian McMahon, Josh Holloway, Richard Dreyfuss, and Angela Sarafyan is currently in theaters nationwide.