We're the United States government. We don't do that sort of thing.
It's an ensemble comedy-drama about early computer hacking and the NSA set in 1969 (briefly) and 1991 in San Francisco, California. It begins with two college guys, Martin Bishop (Gary Hershberger/Robert Redford) and Cosmo (Jo Marr/Ben Kingsley), hacking into banks to transfer money to progressive causes. Cosmo is caught; Martin is not.
After 20 years, Martin, under an assumed name because he's still wanted, runs an industrial security firm that tests the computer security of firms. His eccentric colleagues include former CIA agent Crease (Sidney Poitier), skilled technician and devoted conspiracy theorist "Mother" Roskow (Dan Aykroyd), blind phone hacker "Whistler" Emery (David Strathairn), and young computer genius Carl (River Phoenix). Soon, Martin's former math genius girlfriend, Liz (Mary McDonnell), reluctantly joins the group.
The object is a black box that can crack the security encryption of any large-scale security system, including those used by governments. Two agents task Martin's group to steal it from its genius inventor, Gunter Janek (Donal Logue). Things soon go wrong, as it becomes clear not everyone is what they posed as. There are nice, smaller roles for Stephen Tobolowsky, Lee Garlington, and James Earl Jones.
"Sneakers" is a fun movie, even though the technology being mocked is very outdated. The recent collapse of the Soviet Union is a small part of the plot. The plot has great deadpan humor even as it makes interesting political commentary on the National Security Agency (NSA) years before that agency became more controversial. Redford's comedy chops are in evidence, though the match with Mary McDonnell is not great. "Sneakers" deserves more attention than it has received.
After 20 years, Martin, under an assumed name because he's still wanted, runs an industrial security firm that tests the computer security of firms. His eccentric colleagues include former CIA agent Crease (Sidney Poitier), skilled technician and devoted conspiracy theorist "Mother" Roskow (Dan Aykroyd), blind phone hacker "Whistler" Emery (David Strathairn), and young computer genius Carl (River Phoenix). Soon, Martin's former math genius girlfriend, Liz (Mary McDonnell), reluctantly joins the group.
The object is a black box that can crack the security encryption of any large-scale security system, including those used by governments. Two agents task Martin's group to steal it from its genius inventor, Gunter Janek (Donal Logue). Things soon go wrong, as it becomes clear not everyone is what they posed as. There are nice, smaller roles for Stephen Tobolowsky, Lee Garlington, and James Earl Jones.
"Sneakers" is a fun movie, even though the technology being mocked is very outdated. The recent collapse of the Soviet Union is a small part of the plot. The plot has great deadpan humor even as it makes interesting political commentary on the National Security Agency (NSA) years before that agency became more controversial. Redford's comedy chops are in evidence, though the match with Mary McDonnell is not great. "Sneakers" deserves more attention than it has received.
- steiner-sam
- Sep 18, 2025