Sneakers (film)
Taglines
We could tell you what it's about. But
then, of course, we'd have to kill you.
A burglar, a spy, a fugitive, a delinquent,
a hacker, and a piano teacher... and these are the good guys.
Cast
Robert
Redford as Martin Bishop/Martin Brice
Ben Kingsley as Cosmo
Sidney Poitier
as Donald Crease
David Strathairn as Erwin 'Whistler' Emory
Dan Aykroyd
as Darryl 'Mother' Roskow
River Phoenix as Carl Arbogast
Stephen Tobolowsky
as Werner Brandes
Bodhi Elfman as Centurion S&L Night Guard
Timothy
Busfield as Dick Gordon
Eddie Jones as Buddy Wallace
Mary McDonnell as
Liz
Donal Logue as Dr. Gunter Janek
James Earl Jones as Bernard Abbott
Sneakers is a 1992 caper film directed by Phil Alden Robinson (Field of Dreams), and written by Robinson, Walter F. Parkes and Lawrence Lasker. It stars a diverse ensemble cast.
In addition to being a cerebral thriller
with many action sequences, the film explores numerous themes, often in a humorous
and light-hearted manner. Themes include: political ideology, the role of technology
in society, privacy, security, computer security, espionage, trust issues, friendship,
humanitarianism, the failure of Communism, the risks and rewards of capitalism,
finding both good and evil in unexpected places, positive and negative influences
at work in the United States, and the government's role in domestic surveillance.
Synopsis
In
the prologue, a flashback shows that "Bishop" is Martin Brice's assumed
name, as he has been hiding his true identity to protect himself from the government
since the late 1960s. In the flashback, Martin and his friend Cosmo (Ben Kingsley)
are shown breaking into computer systems, playing such "pranks" as electronically
transferring Richard Nixon's personal assets to left-wing groups -- for fun, and
to make sharp political statements. Cosmo uses sleight of hand to trick Martin
into buying dinner for the pair. While Martin is out, the police arrive to arrest
the pair, but Cosmo, being the only one in the building, is the one arrested.
In the present day, Martin is the leader of a tiger team of "security specialists." In addition to Bishop, the team is comprised of Donald Crease (Poitier), a former CIA agent; "Mother" (Aykroyd), a conspiracy theorist with unsurpassed technical skills and dexterity; Carl Arbogast (Phoenix), a young genius; and Erwin 'Whistler' Emory (Strathairn), a blind man with superb hearing. They also enlist the help of Bishop's former girlfriend, Liz (McDonnell).
Martin is approached by a duo claiming to be NSA officials, Dick Gordon and Buddy Wallace (Timothy Busfield, Eddie Jones). They identify a mathematician named Gunter Janek, whom they say is working on a secret "black box" for the Russian government. Gordon and Wallace ask Martin to use his skills to obtain the box for them. When they offer him $175,000 if he accepts -- and threaten him with incarceration if he doesn't -- Martin decides he has no other choice but to take on the job.
After the meeting, Martin is forced to expose his identity to his team. Martin convinces the team to accept the assignment. Whistler and Carl claim to be in it for the money, joking that they "don't care if you (Martin) go to jail". Mother relents too, and in time, Crease accepts. Using "low-tech answers to high tech problems"[2] such as social engineering tactics, Martin -- with the remote help of his team -- locates and steals the box.
Once in possession of the box, Whistler discovers that it allows the user to bypass the encryption on some of the most secure computer systems in the United States, such as the New England power grid, a computer that controls transactions for the Federal Reserve, and an air traffic control system. Realizing the gravity of the situation, Martin calls for a lockdown of the area they're in, waiting for the next morning to hand the box off to Gordon and Wallace.
During the handoff meeting, Crease notices an article in the morning paper, describing the mysterious death of Janek, the inventor of the "black box". Crease is able to call Martin to safety before he can come to harm. The two speed off in Martin's car, leaving the box with Gordon and Wallace. Martin is angry with Crease, but his concerns shift when Crease tells him about the scientist's murder. Martin and Crease discover that the office building used by Gordon and Wallace was never inhabited by the NSA, and worse: it was the NSA who backed the development of the box to begin with.
Needing to find out more about who has taken the box, Martin follows a lead: he believes that Gregor, a Russian acquaintance of his who is a consul for the former Soviet Union, might be the man pulling the strings. When Martin accosts Gregor in his limo, Gregor asserts that he is not the man responsible. Gregor offers Martin mutual help so that they can together discover who Wallace and Gordon really are, and who they are working for. Martin identifies Wallace from a photo in Gregor's dossiers. Just as Gregor is about to reveal the information to Martin, the limousine is pulled over by the FBI. An agent addresses Martin by name. Gregor tries to offer Martin asylum, stressing that if he gives himself up to the FBI, he'll be in greater danger. Martin reluctantly exits the limousine. The FBI agent then takes Martin's gun and kills Gregor and his driver, leaving the gun on the ground with Martin's fingerprints on it. Wallace then appears from behind the FBI agents and knocks Martin unconscious.
Waking up in the trunk of a car, Martin hears faint noises. However, he's quickly knocked out again by Wallace when the car stops. When he wakes up again, he's in a large room with Cosmo. Cosmo explains while in prison he helped "a couple of nice older gentlemen" make some free telephone calls (a reference to "Capt Crunch" the phone phreaker and hacker (who was also in prison))." They turned out to be "good family man" and they arranged (perhaps by bribing officials) for an early release from his "unfortunate incarceration." Once out he begins working for these men exchanging his ingenuity for his release and performs a variety of services for them. Martin deduces that Cosmo is working with an organized crime family. Cosmo explains that he has used his computer skills to revolutionize the way his employer does business. Cosmo claims he needs the box to keep the FBI from tapping into his employer's computer network. Martin determines that he has an ulterior motive. Cosmo confides in Martin that he wishes to induce anarchy in American society using the powers granted to him by the box. Martin scoffs, since he feels Cosmo has taken their ideals entirely too far. Cosmo then uses the black box to tip the FBI off to Martin's assumed name, via Martin's criminal record in the database. Gordon and Wallace then enter, taking Martin in a choke hold. They drop him off in the middle of San Francisco, with Alcatraz Island seen in the distance.
Martin turns Liz to his team. Martin first tries contacting the real NSA after they have taken up refuge in Liz's apartment. Martin uses his knowledge of the NSA's research into the black box to reach a powerful individual within the NSA, while Whistler uses his own tricks to make the call difficult to trace. Bishop runs out of time, as he is forced to hang up when Whistler warns that the NSA is about to complete tracing their phone call. But Martin gleans enough information to determine what he must do: he will only be granted safety by the NSA if he can relocate the box and offer it back to the Agency.
The team uses their wits and Bishop's recall of audible clues from his ride while detained to track Cosmo's location. In order to get the black box back from Cosmo, they use the man who occupies the office adjacent to Cosmo's as a mark. They discover that they need to get through a "mantrap" security vestibule -- a "digital voice recognition module hooked up to an access booth" -- which will detain anyone trying to pass through it who does not properly present the mark's keycard and his voice. In order to get the keycard and a recording of their mark speaking the passphrase, they set Liz up on a computer date with the mark, a man named Werner Brandes (Stephen Tobolowsky). Liz steals the keycard while trying to coax the correct words from Werner through conversation, recording him as she does.
The team descends on Cosmo's high-security building, with Martin going in. Complications arise when Werner discovers Liz's wallet and realizes she is not who she claims to be. Recalling Liz's attempts to coax key words from his "mantrap" passphrase from him, Werner grows suspicious. Werner drags Liz back to the office building, where Cosmo and some of his security staff look through Werner's office for signs of sabotage. Not seeing anything suspicious (Martin has been tipped off by his team and secreted himself), they start to escort Liz out. But when Liz mentions "this will be my last computer date!", Cosmo immediately suspects that Martin is involved (Cosmo realizes that there's no way that a computer would connect such completely opposing personality types). Cosmo runs into his office, where he sees that Martin has already left with the black box.
Cosmo's security team launches into action. Wallace is able to find Martin in a crawlspace from the sound of Crease and Mother's in Martin's earpiece. Martin and Liz are held at gunpoint in Cosmo's office, and discover that they are about to be shot by Gordon and Wallace. However, Carl has been hiding in the ceiling crawlspace. He descends from the ceiling onto Gordon in the nick of time, freeing Martin and Liz. Liz grabs unconscious Gordon's pistol, fires it in the air, and orders Wallace away from Martin. The trio escape.
Outside, two of Cosmo's security team find Crease and Mother and hold them at gunpoint outside of their van, with Whistler inside. Guided over the radio by Martin, Whistler is able to drive blind (literally). In the chaos, Crease suddenly and violently disarms the guards, and knocks them unconscious -- after revealing to Mother that he was kicked out of the CIA because of his "temper". Carl and Liz make their way down the side of the building and Martin is about to follow, when he's stopped by Cosmo, pointing a gun at him. Martin hands over the black box, admitting that what they did as kids wasn't a bid for an anarchistic society, it was simply "a prank". Martin then makes his way down, telling Cosmo that if he's going to stop him, he (rather than his henchmen) is going to have to pull the trigger, and thus kill his old friend. Martin climbs down, leaving Cosmo to look inside the box - only to see that it's empty; Martin has the real "black box" with him as the team races away towards home.
Martin and his team make it back to their headquarters, but are quickly surrounded by armed NSA agents, headed by Bernard Abbott (James Earl Jones), the NSA official Martin had reached earlier. Martin recalls what Gregor told him: as the box is only useful against U.S. systems, it would grant the NSA the ability to perform domestic surveillance, which they are not legally permitted to do. Martin convinces Abbott to clear his criminal record in exchange for the box, and his silence regarding the secret just uncovered. The rest of the team take the opportunity to have their wishes granted by Abbott, who is now under Martin's thumb. Mother wants his Winnebago; Crease wants an all expenses paid vacation to Europe and Tahiti; Whistler demands "peace on Earth and goodwill towards men"; and Carl wants a date with one of a female agents (who eventually agrees).
After every member of the team is given his wish by the NSA, Abbott orders the agents out, but not before telling Martin that he had better keep his part of the bargain. Martin agrees, but that only causes Liz to wonder: once the NSA agents have all gone, what will stop the NSA from "hooking [the black box] up and doing terrible things?" Martin smiles and holds up the key microchip from the black box.
The film ends with television displaying a news report; the reporter announces that the Republican National Committee has misplaced their funds and entered bankruptcy, while, simultaneously, Amnesty International, Greenpeace, and The United Negro College Fund are seeing "record earnings, from large, anonymous donations".
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