Sneakers Movie Review

Sneakers (1992)

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Written by: Phil Alden Robinson and Lawrence Lasker & Walter F. Parkes
Directed by: Phil Alden Robinson
Starring: Robert Redford, Dan Aykroyd, Ben Kingsley, Mary McDonnell, River Phoenix, Sidney Poitier, David Strathairn, Timothy Busfield, Donal Logue
Rated: PG-13
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Plot
Security pro Martin finds his past returning to haunt him when he and his unique team are tasked with retrieving a particularly important item.

Verdict
A stacked cast can't make up for an uninteresting plot. Everything is so fanciful and high stakes that it makes the heist almost silly. While it gives everyone on Martin's team some kind of quirk to set them apart, the humor undermines the serious nature of what's at stake. It's a heist movie, but everything that happens is perfunctory. They're after the single greatest weapon ever created, but this just as easily could be something more mundane.
Skip it.

Review
Nearly caught hacking during college when reallocating money to underfunded causes, years later Martin (Robert Redford) still operates outside the boundaries of the law. With a hacker team behind him, they offer their services at a cost. When the NSA tasks him with acquiring a Russian black box in exchange for deleting his criminal records and effectively freeing him, he jumps at the chance and his team completes the job quite easily. They discover this isn't just a black box, it's the ultimate code breaker, able to log into any system at any time.

Robert Redford plays Martin

Martin's rag tag group of criminals are all somewhat endearing with their specialties and quirks. He's involved them in this mission without revealing the full extent of the job. Martin's in quite the conspiracy, and plenty of people want the code breaker. They're willing to frame Martin to get it too.

River Phoenix, Dan Aykroyd, Robert Redford, Sidney Poitier, David Strathairn play
Carl, "Mother," Martin, Donald, "Whistler"

The person behind this ends up being an old acquaintance of Martin's. It's a bit of contrivance, but his friend asks him if he's living up to their youthful ideals. They both set out to change the world and make it better. Martin's just cashing in from job to job. The NSA never made a deal with Martin, it was all a ruse.

Martin isn't just some selfish thief. He and his team must get the code breaker back to guard the world from it's power. It's an unusual heist to get it back. They have to hack into a building to increase the thermostat and Martin has to move incredibly slowly in the room to avoid motion detectors.

The premise itself is a bit cartoonish, this magical black box that provides unlimited power. Martin's friend from the past returning to be the big bad is too contrived. The tone of this movie just never matches the stakes. This is frequently comical, and yet the plot device is a black box that could provide unlimited power. The conclusion is a bit too neat with Martin and team resolving all issues. They're noble thieves after all.