Sneakers
Industrial espionage is one of those cliched topics that too many movies use. Most of them use them as a sub-plot and we get bored with it. Sneakers uses it as its central plot and the result is a tension-filled, nail-biting thriller. The problem with the movie is the holes that have been left in the plot. My guess is that the writers got so involved in the story, that they didn't think about the plot overall.
But that's what is so good about the movie. We get caught up in the story and suspense, that we forget about the holes completely (unless you are a stupid critic). The mood of the film is full of suspense in itself, and when it gets too serious, the actors bring in some comedy to lighten it up. The direction by Phil Alden Robinson is wonderful and the screenplay is witty. As for the plot, here it is.
The movie opens with a short sequence about a Martin Brice (Robert Redford) and Cosmo (Ben Kingsley) breaking into the bank's computer and transferring money to different accounts. Brice goes to get pizza, but the police arrive and arrest Cosmo. Brice runs and the movie jumps about 20 years into the future. Now, Brice, under his alias Bishop, is working with a crew of 4 other people to break into banks and other places. Actually, the banks hire them to break in so that they can upgrade their security.
But now two men from the NSA wants to hire them to get a mathematician's "little black box." They bribe the people by getting their background information, but they can't seem to find any information on Martin Bishop. But they do know about Martin Brice. They tell him that they will clear his record if he does it. He convinces the rest of the crew to do it, but they are only doing it for the $175,000. But the stakes are raised when Janek, the mathematician, is killed and they discover several discrepancies with the NSA's story. What they find out is that the men from the NSA weren't with the NSA.
The movie uncovers several cover-ups and, in the end, everything comes together. The entire cover-up is led by, who else? Cosmo! Surprise? Not really, but the ending of the movie is slower than the rest of the movie. One of my favorite scenes is where the group, along with Bishop's ex-wife (Mary McDonnell), find out what Setec Astronomy means and what the little black box really is. The scene is original and wonderfully edited.
The plot holes are pretty big, if you look for that kind of thing (I didn't notice them until I saw it 7 times). But that's the only problem with the movie. Robert Redford is in top form as Martin Bishop. He gives the character a comical twist, but still has his seriousness that the character probably had when written. The humorous side is funny and adds more depth to the boring, unoriginal hero. Dan Aykroyd is hilarious as the cynical, but intelligent member of the crew. River Phoenix is good as the annoying, though hard-trying kid. Sidney Poitier is the most down-to-earth of the group, and his character is probably the most boring one. David Strathairn is wonderfully funny as the blind expert that actually finds the black box. Mary McDonnell is, as always, charming and witty. Ben Kingsley is pretty good as the villain, but I didn't like his character (even though I was supposed to not like him).
Sneakers is rated PG-13. The violence is kept to a minimum, which is a nice relief from those violent espionage movies. The language is light and not very offensive. I don't exactly know why it was rated PG-13 because there is nothing in the movie that isn't bad for kids... maybe the story is too complex for kids, I don't know. But the movie is tense and a little scary at times (for kids at least) which provide for some great entertainment for a date on Friday night.