lydy

"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.

This is one of those quirky little comedies that never becomes a big hit, but has the charm and endurance of a cult movie like "Harold and Maude." Not to everyone's taste, but if if you like this sort of thing, this is the sort of thing that you'll really like. A young woman and her boyfriend enlist the help of some friends, recently released from jail, to rob the televangelist of the money that her recently deceased aunt had given to "God" and which should have been her inheritance.

Tim Curry as the televangelist is fun, but Annie Potts also turns in a wonderful performance has his wife. The remainder of the actors are between competent and quite good. The entire production is professional quality, unlike many cult classics.

"Pass the Ammo" is not without subtlety. There is a charming scene between the preacher and a career bank robber, talking about money, in which the preacher is shocked that the bank robber just spends all his take. "Why that's just wasteful," he exclaims. The bank robber asks about IRAs, and he says, "Well, they have their plusses and their minuses." Their geniality is that of two people in the same profession talking shop.

"Pass the Ammo" is not great theatre. It's not great cinema. It is, however, a good deal of fun for the right people, of which I am one. I recommend it if you are a Curry fan, or like odd little comedies, or found the fall of Jim and Tammy Faye Baker entertaining.