When I started this little project I had no idea about what direction my viewing would go in. There are many old films that I am ashamed to say I have not seen, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Schindlers List, to name any more would be too shocking. The best thing about this process so far has been uncovering some real true greats where I had no idea of their existence. So far my viewing trends have mainly been films form the late eighties and early nineties, hardly surprising as this is my comfort zone.
Today’s film is actually quite well known, 1992’s Sneakers grossed over 100 million dollars worldwide, and remember this is over 100 million dollars in 1992 when the average ticket price was just over four dollars. I almost can’t believe I’m typing this cast as it’s probably one of the best ever assembled, Robert Redford, Sidney Poitier, Ben Kinsley (That’s already three Oscar winners), David Strathairn, Dan Akroyd, River Phoenix and a big cameo that I will talk about later on.
Redford is an ex computer hacker that went underground and changed his identity after nearly being caught, he now lives in San Francisco and runs an elite team of specialists that test giant corporations security systems. The team all become entwined in a giant plot full of NSA’s, CIA’s, FBI’S and lots of spies, everything gets more complicated and convoluted, and the espionage gets slicker and slicker. Sure the film is nowhere near as polished as Soderberg’s Oceans Trilogy but unlike those films you can almost believe that all this stuff is real. No one is break dancing around laser beams or causing earthquakes all the covert espionage harnesses the incredibly old and out dated technology that is one the cornerstones of early 90’s film. Beginning in a 4:3 aspect ratio, you are instantly frustrated until the image blends into a T.V. screen confirming that this is in fact a flash back. There are many little things like this throughout the film that separates this from your average spy thriller. The back drop of San Francisco and the whole bay area is harnessed beautifully, the rain always subtly enhances the atmosphere and the camera work and lighting always set the scene beautifully (just like they should).
The only thing that may take you out of the film slightly is one of the things I love the most, technology is constantly used to progress the story and this is technology that we know by now to actually be obsolete and inaccurate. For instance a whole plot point is uncovered by zooming into pictures pixels to unrelenting lengths these kinds of technical blunders are countless but there is something wonderfully nostalgic and entertaining to see people being completely stopped by a simple keypad. If you can suspend your disbelief and aren’t too much of a modern technological cynic this won’t bother you and to the films credit the technology never seems out of the realms of possibility for the universe of the film, but it is used heavily.
A big reason why the technology never feels like the elephant in the room is because of the great acting that is on display. Robert Redford carries the film so well, even at times when I had absolutely no idea what was going on in the film, I knew that Redford did and that was good enough for me, a very subtle performance with enough charisma lasting till the very end. Poitier is everything we expect him to be, it’s not a giant part but we care about him just as much as Redford, it’s that kind of classic family man that contrasts to every other single and loner character but he doesn’t play it like a sappy bitch, it’s ruthless with balls, he’s the hardest character of them all and shows just as much heart and humanity. The unsung hero is David Strathairn who plays a blind hacker that uses a Braille keyboard to hack giant databases and networks, a very high concept character indeed but Strathairn does it great justice, his performance is kind of wacky and zainy but always remains solidly appropriate in the context of the film.
Now for all the great strengths of this film there are a few weaknesses, the first being the ridiculously complex plot, some parts I had to rewind multiple times to try and grasp what the fuck was going on. Whilst to many people this is a giant flaw I actually find it to be a great asset to the film, this is something that you actually have to watch, now days we are given a plethora of films that actually require very little attention to follow but not this one. The movement is subtle, blink or leave for a minute and your fucked, this is one that you have to pause to go for a break or you will regret it. There are a few parts that really do kill the momentum of a scene sometimes and hurt the pacing; during the film Redford is knocked out and kidnapped, he rides in the boot of a car for a minute and then wakes up. After waking a gangster open the boot and knocks him out yet again, now this was really pointless and annoying also the constant fades to black to show the time ellipses really hurt the pacing and make us bored, this is a bad thing because it happens just before the main villains plot is revealed. This again is just a small quibble in the big aspect of the film as a whole but I think the film could have easily been tightened up slightly. The female character in the film played by Mary Mcdonnell feels like she has really just been thrown in at the last minute. I feel like the character could have had far more depth and purpose but in the end was just left to being a side thought. Obviously the needed a female just to comply with convention but this is a really weak effort and a missed opportunity for some great characterization for Redford.
The climax of the film involves Redford breaking in to Kinsley’s top secret base, the only problem is that there are very strong motion detectors all over the room. To combatant this they have to turn the heat up so that the detectors will be less effective, he also can only move at a maximum of two inches a second. This is a great set up for the scene and the tension is constant. Prior to this scene the effort by the group to pull of this heist is huge and then the whole plan of operations falls apart very quickly and is not very rewarding in the long run. Obviously if they had pulled it off flawlessly it would have reduced the film to being another piece of garbage but the way it falls apart just feels far too easy and simple for such a well planned operation. Of course right at the end we get the cameo to end all cameo as James Earl Jones enters and steals the scene, it’s a damn shame that he wasn’t in the film more.
A great film, nearly every aspect is solid, brilliant acting, writing and story.
A solid and worthwhile 8 out of 10.
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