Jack-79832128 Boring, "click ctrl+shift+enter to steal money from bank" movie. It's "simplified" for the general population, but if you have any idea how tech works, the script will be hard to swallow. If you work in IT field, you'll probably suffer minor nervous breakdown while watching this movie.

SnoopyStyle In 1969, Marty Brice and Cosmo hack into some Republican bank accounts. Cosmo gets arrested and Marty goes on the run. In present day, Marty (Robert Redford) has a new name in Bishop. His crew ex-CIA Donald Crease (Sidney Poitier), blind Irwin 'Whistler' Emery (David Strathairn), conspiracy nut Darren 'Mother' Roskow (Dan Aykroyd) and young hacker Carl Arbogast (River Phoenix) test security systems. The NSA hires them to steal a black box in exchange for clearing their records. They discover the box is a master decryption device and the NSA men are fake. Cosmo (Ben Kingsley) returns into Marty's life with a truly villainous plan for the box.Redford and Poitier are two veterans doing a lighter movie. It throws me for a loop. The feel is light fun. It probably needs a real comic to bring out some of the joking around. The Mother role could be played for more ridiculous fun. The twist is fine and the final caper is good. Since it's going for the comedic, it could have been wackier.

pearlgearl-772-761306 The movie is deeper than would be expected from a "spy"-type movie; it seems "cute" and "lighthearted". Hardly anybody gets killed, the characters are even endearing, and it seems to be nearly a spoof. The underlying theme, however, is one of balance--the establishment has "too much" and others have "not enough", an injustice Marty, and especially Cosmo, intend to right. The writers work that theme into the dialogue by balancing sentences and statements; "I cannot kill my friend. Kill my friend." The loss of trust is hinted at in lighting tricks, as well--hiding faces in shadow at specific moments.The writers deserve a HUGE pat on the back for their realistic and sympathetic portrayal of a blind man. I would love to nominate David Strathearn as an "honorary blind man". He is shown reading Braille, although Braille literacy is quite low, unfortunately. That funny device with the "dancing dots" seen during the scenes where he is using a computer is a Braille display--still in use today by those who prefer Braille to an audible screen reader, which may not have been around in '92, either. While he is never seen using a cane or a dog, the circumstances in which he is seen walking would not lend themselves to cane travel. In their office, he would get around just fine without a cane; he knows where everything is. In Liz's apartment, it's just too cluttered with all their equipment to make a cane realistic. Instead, he walks slowly, touches walls etc. and gets around just fine. His blindness, is, indeed, even an asset to the team early on--when he realizes the black box is in the fake answering machine case. The sighted people see the answering machine and trust what their vision tells them without question; it takes the blind guy to go beyond the "picture" and use his other senses to figure out the truth.

grantss All-star cast, but so-so script and direction.Plot sounded interesting enough - civilians get hired by the NSA to hack the research of a potential Russian scientist. However, almost from the start it lacks focus. Too many silly scenes and dialogue.Throw in a plot that isn't entirely watertight, or plausible, and things go off course pretty quickly. Direction is far from solid, too. Things don't always make sense, or follow properly.It has its moments though. The game of high-stakes espionage was interesting at times.All-star cast mostly give solid performances. However, Ben Kingsley is badly miscast as the bad guy. The role seemed so beneath him, especially as he gets to be a stereotypical Bond-type villain, and has to put on a fake, barely believable, New York accent.