Movies - Sneakers

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	Movies - Sneakers

Sneakers is a 1992 film directed by Phil Alden Robinson (Field of Dreams
) and starring Robert Redford, Dan Aykroyd, Ben Kingsley, Mary McDonnell, River Phoenix, Sidney Poitier, and David Strathairn.

Overview

The movie is about a team of security sneakers who are tricked into finding a mysterious box that can break into any encrypted computer system in the United States.

Leonard Adleman, a computer scientist noted for his contributions to public-key cryptography (see RSA), was credited as a consultant on the film; he wrote and designed the visual aids for a lecture given by one of the characters.

The team is a diverse group of renegades, consisting of Martin Bishop, the leader and an expert hacker; Donald Crease, a former CIA employee; Mother, a paranoid expert with gadgets; Carl Arbogast, a young genius; and Erwin 'Whistler' Emory, a blind man with superb hearing. They also enlist the help of Bishop's old girlfriend, Liz, who teaches gifted children and wants no more to do with the team's "little club".

Several internal conflicts exist, such as between Mother and Crease about the truth of conspiracy theories concerning the CIA, and the jousting between Bishop and Liz. However, they work together seamlessly, and the team dynamic in addition to its technological aspect is a part of the appeal of this movie.

A company by the name of PlayTronics appears in the film, using the tagline "PlayTronics: The Future Of Toys".

Plot

In the 1960s, Martin Brice and his roommate Cosmo had hacked into several top secret databases, but only Cosmo was caught and arrested. Twenty years later, Martin "Bishop" has been on the run for the greater part of his life. Then, two men claiming to be from the National Security Agency (NSA) strong-arm Bishop into bringing them "Janek's box." The NSA tells Martin that the box, developed by mathematician Gunter Janek, is part of a project funded by the Russian government called 'Setec Astronomy,' but the team is unaware of its purpose or function. If Martin refuses, his alias will be revealed to the FBI, which has been searching for him for twenty years.

The team works together to steal the cunningly disguised box from Janek's office, and later, while celebrating and planning what to do with their money, they discover the box's significance. Whistler, Carl, and Mother fiddle with the circuitry and discover that one of the chips in the circuit is different from the others: it is a codebreaker ("No, it's THE codebreaker," Martin tells them). The chip can break any code, and Whistler demonstrates this by accessing several facilities such as Air Traffic Control and the power grid. Meanwhile, Martin, Liz, Crease, and his wife play Scrabble. Martin realizes that 'Setec Astronomy' does not actually mean anything and discovers it is an anagram for 'Too Many Secrets.' Crease panics over the power of what they possess and locks the area down, sending his family home and keeping the team in the office - including Liz, who is revealed to have known Martin's secret the whole time; his true identity was not known even to his colleages. Crease rallies the others to the appropriate level of caution, telling the group, "There's not a government on the planet that wouldn't kill us all for that thing." The group tries to settle the matter as planned, but Crease and Martin call off the exchange when they discover that Janek, the box's creator, was killed the day before. Crease confronts them: "The NSA doesn't kill people, Martin - who were those guys?"

The team then discovers that Janek's grant was actually from the NSA in the first place and they have been the victim of an elaborate hoax. Martin attempts to get information from a Russian friend but is instead accosted and watches as he is framed for the Russian's murder. He is transported in the trunk of a car to an unknown location and there discovers that the mastermind behind the team's deceptive assignment is actually his old friend Cosmo (Kingsley). Cosmo frames Martin for the murder and then abandons him. Martin goes to Liz, re-assembles the team, and they attempt to end their nightmare by going to the authorities. Calling in clandestinely, they find their information is not worth enough: they must have the box to hold any leverage when dealing with the government, and so they decide to track down and steal back the box.

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Movies - Sneakers

Overview

Plot

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