How did this film manage to stay under the radar?
"Sneakers" is a remarkable movie, with an even more remarkable cast. The only truly sour note is the title. It must be an anagram, but the only one I have found that might be relevant is "NSA Reeks" -- which indeed it does in this film.
The plot is both simple: steal the magic chip that decodes everything, and make your dreams come true. It is also complex. Everyone wants it, all for different reasons, and some are willing to kill for it. Secrets, lies, and betrayals; trust, truth, and faith. In the end, the loyalties are predictable, and the ending a bit pat, but extremely satisfactory.
The thing that makes this film special is its high geek value. The characters really are like the techies they play, and the science and cryptography are real or extremely plausible. It's so much fun to watch a movie with computers and cryptography in it that doesn't make me grind my teeth and want to throw things at the screen. The motivations of the characters, while a bit off-center, are realistic for people that were in the computer geek community at the time the film was written. (Not hackers, and not the professionals they're turning out of college these days. The wild-eyed, in love with the technology guys who can't seem to find the world outside of their monitors.)
The least believable claim is that the magic box would not be useful in decoding Russian messages and sites. The second most unbelievable scene is Redford posing as a PI investigating the infidelities of the mathematician who invented the decoder. He persuades the mathematician's mistress that her lover has a wife, but that she shouldn't say anything about it because she loves him. Redford's weird change of loyalties in that scene, from his alleged employer to his alleged subject of investigation, have no ring of truth, and I still can't see how the woman, even distraught, could have fallen for it.
Taken all for all, the film is a fun techno-thriller with an amazingly good cast and unprecedented technical accuracy.
The plot is both simple: steal the magic chip that decodes everything, and make your dreams come true. It is also complex. Everyone wants it, all for different reasons, and some are willing to kill for it. Secrets, lies, and betrayals; trust, truth, and faith. In the end, the loyalties are predictable, and the ending a bit pat, but extremely satisfactory.
The thing that makes this film special is its high geek value. The characters really are like the techies they play, and the science and cryptography are real or extremely plausible. It's so much fun to watch a movie with computers and cryptography in it that doesn't make me grind my teeth and want to throw things at the screen. The motivations of the characters, while a bit off-center, are realistic for people that were in the computer geek community at the time the film was written. (Not hackers, and not the professionals they're turning out of college these days. The wild-eyed, in love with the technology guys who can't seem to find the world outside of their monitors.)
The least believable claim is that the magic box would not be useful in decoding Russian messages and sites. The second most unbelievable scene is Redford posing as a PI investigating the infidelities of the mathematician who invented the decoder. He persuades the mathematician's mistress that her lover has a wife, but that she shouldn't say anything about it because she loves him. Redford's weird change of loyalties in that scene, from his alleged employer to his alleged subject of investigation, have no ring of truth, and I still can't see how the woman, even distraught, could have fallen for it.
Taken all for all, the film is a fun techno-thriller with an amazingly good cast and unprecedented technical accuracy.
- lydy
- Jan 18, 2005