Archived Movie Review: Sneakers (1992)(*** out of 5) - Sneakers is - TopicsExpress



          

Archived Movie Review: Sneakers (1992)(*** out of 5) - Sneakers is still fun to watch after nearly 22 years and it was a great look at the time in which it was made. In 1992 with the Cold War just ending, nobody was really sure how things were going to shape up geopolitically. This film is still very relevant today, dealing with issues like encryption, security, access, Identification... At the time this film was made, the PC was just starting to be used for common uses. This film is a pretty accurate look back at the state of the industry for 1992, and some of the speculative uses shown here have actually come into being. Sneakers effectively captures that mood perfectly, while keeping the audience highly engaged. Having managed to dodge imprisonment for computer fraud, Martin Bishop is living under an alias and runs a small company that tests security systems for weaknesses. When he is approached by two men from NSA who threaten to expose him, Martin and his group take on their job and go after a device called Setec Astronomy. The actual task itself is simple enough but, just before payday they discover that the device is the ultimate codebreaker and that its inventor has just been murdered. They keep the device and later find that the men are not from the NSA. With a device that anyone would kill them for the group prepare to go on the run but things change and they soon find themselves unable to trust anyone and fighting for their futures. It has been many years since I saw this film last but I was quite pleased to find that all the things that made it enjoyable back in 1992 were still in effect and, despite the jumps in technology, it has not really dated at all. The basic plot is a mix of caper movie and thriller and is all delivered in the sort of glossy and slick fashion that sells very well in the multiplexes. Those looking for genuine intelligence and complexity will feel that this is a little shallow but it covers for this by being consistently fun and keeping constantly moving forward without ever lingering on anything too long. The techno-babble is all pretty superficial but again it does enough to keep it all moving and produce a series of enjoyable set pieces. The cast was and is still a big selling point. Redford carries off the elder-statesman character while still having enough of a tinkle in his eyes to match the fun. Poitier adds to the class and carries quite a bit of weight with him – although making him use the MF word just sounded weird. Aykroyd is funny in a small role while Phoenix is enjoyable if a little sappy and, dare I say it, bland. McDonnell is classy and enjoyable, while Strathairn does well in his role. Kingsleys Cosmo is a strange mix – on one hand he is a poorly developed twist in the story with a strange Goodfellas-lite accent but on the other hand he is a tragic character, cut adrift by a mix of noble aspiration and bitterness. With the film focusing on the slick motion of the story Kingsley cant do much with the tragic and he ends up being a average bad guy despite the occasional interesting touch. Support from James Earl Jones, Eddie Jones, Busfield, Tobolowky and a few others this is a well rounded cast that pretty much all match the slick delivery of the material. Hardly a classic then but a very enjoyable multiplex caper/thriller nonetheless. The plot moves slickly forward all the time with plenty of good set-pieces moments. The cast are polished and classy and they almost all match the fun mood of the script. Not the deepest or most complex thing youll ever see (it cannot decide on its politics or moral centre) but it is fun and that is probably going to be just what youre looking for in it.
Posted on: Wed, 30 Jul 2014 02:43:23 +0000

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