Sneakers (1992)

Featured Audience Ratings

• moon r

  
  Behind the unlikely story of the possibilities of a codebreaking device that works sorta like a universal remote is simply a charisma piece that exists so we can pal around with the stars for a moment. A nice evening with friends.

• Jim H

  
  A team of hackers must steal a mysterious black box. At the time, before the Internet became as ubiquitous as it is, this must have seemed cutting edge and revolutionary. Today, it doesn't play as well and must rely on the strength of its cast, which, on first glance, promises… More
  A team of hackers must steal a mysterious black box. At the time, before the Internet became as ubiquitous as it is, this must have seemed cutting edge and revolutionary. Today, it doesn't play as well and must rely on the strength of its cast, which, on first glance, promises to be quite good. But midway through the film, I got the feeling that these were just actors having fun being actors. What results is a fairly basic thriller/comedy, and while it's entertaining, in the words of one critic, "There's precious little that will stay with you." Overall, <i>Sneakers</i> is a decent way to waste two hours, but don't go looking for anything more than light-hearted entertainment.

• Conner R

  
  A great cast, but not a good enough story to back it up. It's not exactly a comedy or a drama, but something stuck between. However, the biggest problem lies in the poor execution of the plot and highly unimaginative film making. It's extremely mediocre.

• Martin B

  
  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, especially… More
  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, especially 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, <i>smart</i>. 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.

• Aaron N

  
  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… More
  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 it 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.

• Dean !

  
  A cool all star cast, Hacker thriller.

• Candy R

  
  Good thriller about spies.

• xGary X

  
  Lightweight comedy thriller made watchable by an extremely likeable cast. A fairly entertaining but vacuous popcorn movie.

• Dean M

  
  Excellent comedy-spy-buddy-caper movie with all-cast.

• Steven V

  
  This movie has good comedy, but is also very serious and follows the life of a man who has tried to forget about his past. Lots of spy stuff, action, and gadgets. One of the first movies that exposes what hacking truly is all about.

• Deb S

  
  What a cast - Robert Redford, Sidney Poitier, Dan Aykroyd, River Phoenix, David Strathairn, Mary McDonnell and Ben Kingsley!! This tale of intrigue and high-tech suspense is fun to watch as a team of Hackers are hired to hack into systems to see how tight their security is and if they… More
  What a cast - Robert Redford, Sidney Poitier, Dan Aykroyd, River Phoenix, David Strathairn, Mary McDonnell and Ben Kingsley!! This tale of intrigue and high-tech suspense is fun to watch as a team of Hackers are hired to hack into systems to see how tight their security is and if they are as safe as they think. It really gets exciting as they go after this "black box" that can decrypt computer codes whereby they can have access to the FBI, CIA, airports, etc but when the past of one of the hackers catches up with them this puts all of their lives in danger. Dan Akroyd did a great job playing the role as "Mother" who believes every conspiracy theory ever devised and Redford as the guy who gets all the dangerous tasks or as Poitier puts it "all the fun stuff." Ben Kingsley plays the maniacal Cosmo with his two cold-blooded operatives, Timothy Busfield and Eddie Jones.

• William G

  
  Nimble espionage thriller.

• Jonny C

  
  Great heist movie. Sneakers is a lighthearted thriller with an all-star cast.

• Andre T

  
  This is very good.A lot of good performances and an envolving story.a little like Mission Impossible I with a touch of humor and class.

• Sunil J

  
  A really diverse cast of people make a really great funny movie about government conspiracy.

• Sarah B

  
  Forget the plot and watch it for the performances. I adore the interplay between the characters.

• Lee K

  
  i saw this in the theatre and on dvd, its great with an all star cast

• Anthony V

  
  Good team up espionage.

• nathometer

  
  My sister introduced this movie to me as a kid. I enjoyed it then and now. Its far out of date, but still enjoyable.

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