How to make
a film. Hire an amazing cast. Give them all distinct if unlikely quirky personalities.
An engaging if unremarkable plot. Put it all together and you have a very
enjoyable film. Nothing that will stick for long, but a good easy ride. But
what a cast. Heading it is Robert Redford and his crinkly blue eyes - no
longer the callow youth of two decades before. Along with him are Sidney
Poitier, Dan Aykroyd, River Phoenix, David Strathairn, Mary McDonnell and
Ben Kingsley. Even in a smaller role they have Timothy Busfield, Stephen
Tobolowsky, Donal Logue and a surprise cameo at the end from a huge star.
All of them get their share of screen time and pick up a good paycheck for
minimal effort. The good comradery between them is what sells this film.
Certainly not all the techy stuff that makes no sense.
Redford runs a small group each with their
specialized skills that breaks past the security of large corporations -
but not for nefarious reasons. They are hired to test the security. When
I graduated from college in the Dark Ages and could not find a job, I found
similar employment for a short period of time. This was after trying to sell
encyclopedias door to door - yes people once did that. But stealing was my
job - not quite as sophisticated as this film. I had to shoplift and see
if I could get away with it. The easiest way was to put an expensive item
within a cheaper item and pay for that. That would not work today with all
the beepers going off, so not recommended. I was never caught and in theory
all that stuff was returned to the stores. Though I never saw that exchange.
But this group are much slicker - Poitier
is ex-CIA, the others a mix of this and that but Strathairn is interesting
- he is blind - but can hear a pin drop at a hundred yards in traffic - the
Zatoichi of the computer keyboards. They all seem to have slightly illegal
backgrounds - in particular Redford who along with his college friend hacked
into financial systems and sent money to good charities. The friend is caught
and sent to jail, Redford was out for pizza and has been on the run for years
under a fake name. This all comes into play when two NSA officials show up
and tell him they know of his past, but it will all be cleared up if he can
do them one small favor. Steal a box with a code that can break into everything.
Nothing of course is quite what it seems and they are forced into a much
more clever and dangerous heist than they planned on. But it all feels
light and cheery with comic elements thrown in constantly.
