Sneakers

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Sneakers

78% Liked It
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Sneakers

Robert Redford, Sidney Poitier, Dan Aykroyd, River Phoenix, Ben Kingsley, Mary McDonnell, David Strathairn

Complex but lighthearted thriller about computers and cryptography, government and espionage, secrets and deception and betrayal.

Id: 10902455

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Recent Reviews

Sneakers Recent Reviews
  • clooneyfan
    February 13, 2009
    clooneyfan
    Fun thriller with some big name stars in it!
  • shiftyeyeddog
    June 23, 2008
    shiftyeyeddog
    Back in 1992, I think I saw this movie because of River Phoenix. But while he was great in it, I was surprised to find I loved the entire cast. Redford? Poitier? Kingsley? McDonnell? Talented actors, no doubt, but not exactly my A-list, right? But this cast is perfect, especi...( read more)ally David Strathairn, who manages to stand out in already amazing cast - no small feat.

    The success of the film, though, is largely due to the writing, which is fun, exciting, and best of all, smart. Intelligent comedies don't come along too often, so it's disappointing that this one is so overlooked. Personally, I would have nominated it for all kinds of Oscars. It ranks right up there as the #1 or #2 film of 1992 for me.
  • DrZeek
    May 15, 2008
    DrZeek
    Bank Secretary: So, people hire you to break into their places... to make sure no one can break into their places?
    Martin Bishop: It's a living.
    Bank Secretary: Not a very good one.

    Robert Redford leads an ensemble cast in a lighthearted thriller that tries to be smarter than i...( read more)t is and doesn't work well enough with the elements that it has at its disposal, but is passable due to Redford's charm and its breezy nature.

    Redford is Martin Bishop, leader of a crew that specializes in breaking into banks that have hired them, so they know how to beef up their security.

    The team includes what are essentially stock characters: Sidney Poitier as the old ex-CIA pro, David Strathairn as a tech guy, who is blind, Dan Aykroyd as a conspiracy theorist, River Phoenix as the rookie kid, and Mary McDonnell as an old girlfriend.

    The teams bites off more than it can chew when they are recruited by some mysterious folk to find a particular item. Around the same time this item is discovered to be an ultimate code breaker, the team learns these guys are bad folk, being headed by a slimy old pro played by Ben Kingsley, who has a past involving Redford's character.

    The team is forced to go through a number stealth cons, heists, and other secret missions using techy equipment to help them out.

    The whole thing is essentially a heist story mixed with what was at the time intriguing uses of high tech equipment to add something new.

    What the film lacks is a real way to show off what makes this stuff very cool or exciting. It tries to be both breezy and a thriller but it only succeeds at points. Some are played to lightly and others try to be to involved in the thriller aspect. Then the ending tries to go the action route, piling on cliches and a final ending that also feels too breezy.

    The characters are also where the film suffers. There is enough A-talent involved to have a good movie, but the characters never become interesting enough, except for when the plot requires them to be of use.

    Still, the film is well made, uses its high-tech thriller plot to work as a form of general entertainment, and does feature a talented cast that is effective enough for what they are given.

    Mother: Okay, boss, this LTX-71 concealable mike is part of the same system that NASA used when they faked the Apollo Moon landings. They had the astronauts broadcast around the world from a sound stage at Norton Air Force Base in San Bernadino, California. So it worked for them, shouldn't give us too many problems.
  • AgentLexi2132
    August 12, 2007
    AgentLexi2132
    Complex but lighthearted thriller about computers and cryptography, government and espionage, secrets and deception and betrayal. A repeated process film.
  • armybratgeo
    August 6, 2007
    armybratgeo
    oh man, love love love this one, awesome cast, awesome movie
  • honey88foru
    November 29, 2009
    honey88foru
    I saw it on TV a couple of years ago. It's a lighthearted movie about hacking, politics, conspiracies and espionage. Put all those together and throw in a healthy dose of humor and you have Sneakers. Ah! Dan Aykroyd used to be good.
  • YoghurtTheWise
    November 16, 2009
    YoghurtTheWise
    "I want peace on earth and good will towards men."

    "We're the United States government, we don't do that sort of thing!"
  • Maic0
    September 5, 2009
    Maic0
    Wasn't really expecting to be quite as impressed with this film as I was. I don't quite know why. I mean you just have to look at the cast to make a fair guess about how good it's going to be. But I really hadn't heard much about it and my only interest in the whole thing was tha...( read more)t River Phoenix was in it.
    It's a type of heist movie, where a group of ex-cons who run a bank safety business are blackmailed into retrieving a black box.
    Robert Redford heads the gang and is the guy that has a lot of things going on in his past. Things he would prefer to remain in the past. As always is the case Redford is awesome. He commands the film perfectly and I really can't fault him.
    Once they have their hands on this box it seems there is a little bit more to it and a lot more at stake than just the privacy of their pasts.
    At times it does sort of complicate things a little. By the end everything is clear but there were things that I found unnecessary.
    Other than that I can't really fault the film.
    River Phoenix was an excellent actor and every time I see him in something new I'm just reminded of what a tremendous tragedy his passing was.
    Ben Kingsley always does an excellent job and he plays a cold hearted business man very well. I liked that his character wasn't completely two dimensional. They discuss his past and how things have changed for him.
    James Earl Jones makes a lovely appearance at the end and we even get that classic voice on the phone about half way through, which isn't really a big deal but I liked it. I mean if you have to have a voice on the phone, then his is probably top of my list.
    Highly recommend this. It's a cool heist movie that seems to be over looked quite a lot. Which is a shame because it has a lot to give to the genre.
  • thereeldeal
    August 14, 2009
    thereeldeal
    Fun film for a lazy afternoon. Comes off a bit as a very good tv movie, but the cast is definitely film calibre. David Strathairn steals the show. I still quote this film on a regular basis. The team is more fun than the story, though.
  • Sunshineyness
    August 2, 2009
    Sunshineyness
    For some reason I used to borrow this movies from the library a lot as a kid and watch it over and over.

    Upon recent re-acquaintance it amazes me to see how much this movie holds up. I mean, for an early 90's techno-thriller it doesn't seem nearly as dated as say, Hackers, does ...( read more)and manages to delightfully shy away from a lot of the common lame "computers is magic" tropes of the genre that other contemporaries (The Net, I'm looking at you. It really wasn't that hard in the early 90's to "go off the grid") fall prey to.

    And it was funny! Dan Ackroyd is always good and forgot Sidney Poiter was in this one and brings his particular brand of class. And sigh, River Pheonix really was a great actor just about to bust through and it really showed in this one.

    Really recommend if you like thrillers that are fun and slightly more plausible. And hey, what do you know, the president of the colonies shows up as Robert Redford's on again/off again girlfriend!
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