SNEAKERS

(September 1992, U.S.)

Released in 1992 (on September 11th, no less), SNEAKERS was filled with many high-tech concepts involving security and hacking before the internet and social media changed everything forever. From my perspective, I hadn't seen such possibilities involving computers and security since WARGAMES in 1983. Who knew back then that we were just barely scratching the surface? I mean, we still using floppy discs, for crying out loud!

Robert Redford leads a team of security specialists who are hired by high-profile companies to break into their systems in order to tell them how to keep others from breaking into their systems. Among them is Redford himself as Martin Bishop who's been in hiding ever since his college youth when he was a young hacker and evaded police capture (though his partner in crime, Cosmo, was arrested and sent to jail), an electronic technician and conspiracy theorist (played by Dan Aykroyd), a young hacker who's also looking for love (played by the late River Phoenix) and a blind phone phreak (played by David Strathairn). When they're approached by the National Security Agency to recover a "black box" developed for the Russian government from a famed mathematician, Martin reluctantly agrees in the hopes that his record will be cleared.

Through the team's talent and ingenuity, they discover the "black box" hidden in an ordinary answering machine and manage to retrieve it. But even before they can truly celebrate their victory, they soon realize they've stolen something very dangerous and the NSA boys who hired them are anything but. Turns out they're rogue agents working for the now successful and wealthy Cosmo (played by Ben Kingsley), who hasn't quite gotten over the fact that his one-time friend got away while he spent time in prison. Still holding a grudge, we wishes Martin dead, yet at the same time, entices him to join his ultimate plan of controlling and manipulating the world's information with the "black box".

When the team isn't exercising their hacking skills, they're evading capture and keeping their wits about them from being killed by their enemies. However, since they're all a bunch of misfits, at heart, their dialogue and chemistry is often a pleasure to follow. Even at the end, when they're surrounded by FBI agents at their office, they know just how to negotiate for the material things they want out of life before turning the box over to them; whether it's a trip to Europe, a Winnebago or simply the phone number of the pretty female agent. Even if it seems like the team has lost in the end and walked away with little for their efforts, we need to remember that these men are hackers, and won't rest until they've done their part to steal the right amount of money from the Republican National Committee and dispersed it among Greenpeace, the United Negro College Fund and Amnesty International. In a world of greed and crime, even in the early '90s, I suppose that's an appropriate happy-Hollywood ending.

As a caper film, SNEAKERS has enough thrills, tension, humor and plot twists to keep one interested. Of course, the ensemble case led by Redford doesn't hurt, either. One can't help but recall his early roles of the 1970s involving political intrigue and mystery including THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR (1975) and ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN (1976). Sydney Poitier adds a certain blend of charm and class as an ex-CIA man who acts much like the logical "Spock" among an Enterprise crew who are off and running on their latest mission and trying to survive it. While hardly a perfect film, it's an interesting follow-up from Phil Alden Robinson, who'd previously convinced the world that, "If you build it, he will come."

Favorite line or dialogue:

"Whistler": "I want peace on earth and goodwill toward men."
Bernard Abbott: "We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing!"