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Parents' Guide to

Paranoia

By Jeffrey Anderson, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 13+

Incredibly dumb corporate espionage thriller.

Movie PG-13 2013 115 minutes
Paranoia Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 9+

Based on 9 parent reviews

Parentofwisdom
Parentofwisdom Parent of baby, baby, baby, 10, 10 and 18+-year-old
August 26, 2013
age 12+

Violent, Some Suggested Sexual Content, and language

Took my 2 10 year old's too see it. they said it was a just fine movie. they said 5/10. same as me. some language that they cant use. a little too violent and some kissing.

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much sex
Too much swearing
Too much consumerism
m1671
m1671 Adult
August 17, 2013
age 13+

inspirational

exiting and fun movie

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
See all 9 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Working in a high-tech company, Adam Cassidy (Liam Hemsworth) and his friends bank their entire futures on a presentation to their boss, Nicolas Wyatt (Gary Oldman) ... and wind up losing their jobs. This is doubly hard for Adam, who's taking care of his sick father (Richard Dreyfuss). After a night partying with the company credit card, Adam is given two choices: go to jail, or go to work for Wyatt's competitor (and former mentor) Jock Goddard (Harrison Ford) as a corporate spy. Adam is charged with stealing some important new technology, and the only way to do that is to snatch the ID of a co-worker, Emma Jennings (Amber Heard). The trouble is that he and Emma have fallen in love. Can Adam stop all the backstabbing and clear his good name?

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (9 ):
Kids say (5 ):

The plot of this film isn't just routine but also totally nonsensical and illogical. PARANOIA director Robert Luketic also made the somewhat similar card-counting thriller 21, which also centered on the "selling your soul to the devil" theme. But while 21 had an interesting team dynamic and some fun characters, Paranoia isn't so blessed. To start, it's difficult to believe Hemsworth as a guy who might work in the technology business; he just doesn't sell the part. And, worse, the character is so poorly written that he comes across as flat-out dumb in scene after scene (such as searching for a hidden camera in his silverware drawer). Clearly Luketic is more interested in showing the actor shirtless. The rest of the great cast (Ford, Oldman, Dreyfuss, and Heard) is somehow completely lifeless, perhaps because they're all asked to play opposite Hemsworth, rather than each other. No amount of "suspension of disbelief" can save this movie.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the "selling your soul to the devil" theme. How classic is this story? What does it really mean? What other ways can it be applied?

  • How relevant is Paranoia's concept about getting a job and becoming successful? Does hard work pay off? Or are stealing and backstabbing required?

  • Why is drinking such a part of this corporate world?

  • Why does the movie show the main character shirtless so often? What does this say about male body image?

Movie Details

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