Sneakers (film)

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.

Plot

In the 1960s, Martin Brice and his roommate Cosmo had hacked into several top secret databases, but only Cosmo got caught. Twenty years later, Martin "Bishop" has almost forgotten this embarrassing event. Then, two men claiming to be from the National Security Agency (NSA) charges Bishop with bringing them "Janek's box", which contains a key that can access and alter the most important databases in the United States. The NSA tell Martin that the box, developed by Matematician Gunter Janek, is part of a project sponsored by Russia called 'Setec Astronomy' but the team are unaware of its purpose or function. If he refuses, his alias will be revealed to the government agency that has been searching for him for twenty years.

Related Topics:
1960s - National Security Agency

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The team works together to steal the cunningly disguised box from Janeks office and later, whilst 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 other; it is a codebreaker ('No, its THE codebreaker' Martin tells them.) The single circuit 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 realises that Setec Astronomy does not actually mean anything and discovers it is an anagram for 'Too Many Secrets'. Crease panics and locks the area down, sending his family home and keeping the team in the office - including Liz who is revealed as having 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 try to settle the matter as planned but Crease and Martin call off the exchange when they discover that Janek, the boxes creator, was killed last night. Crease tells the others 'The NSA doesn't kill people Martin, who were those guys?'.

Related Topics:
Money - Codebreaker - Air Traffic Control - Power grid - Scrabble - Astronomy - Anagram

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The team then discover 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 and is then framed for his murder. He is taken to the 'bad-guys' base and discovers that the mastermind behind it 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 proceed to track down and steal the box.

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In a memorable scene, Martin and Whistler work to figure out the location of Cosmo's HQ. Since Martin was in the trunk of the car for the trip and never saw the actual building Whistler figures out where the base is based only on what Martin heard. They figure out the location based on the spaces between the seams on the concrete, ambient sounds and the sound of railway tracks under the tyres. Martin seems stumped by the last noise he heard; 'It sounded like we drove through a cocktail party' he tells the others. Whistler tells the group that the location must be near a lake and it is revealed that what Martin actually heard was chattering geese.

Related Topics:
HQ - Geese

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Martin successfully steals the box from Cosmo, with the intent of brokering a deal for safety with the real NSA, only to be confronted on the roof by Cosmo. The two discuss that what is really going on is the old rivalry between them and their competitiveness. Martin ultimately hands over the box, at gunpoint, to Cosmo and then leaves. After Martin is gone, Cosmo opens the box to check and discovers that the box is actually only a casing that Martin practiced with before the actual heist - the circuitry is missing.

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When the group return, jubiliant, to their offices they find the NSA is there, armed and ready. Martin brokers a deal with them so that the group gets everything they would have bought with the money had the deal gone smoothly the first time and, in exchange, the NSA gets the box back and the group agree to be silent (especially about the fact that the box only works to break American codes and it is odd therefore that the NSA would want it). Martin's record is cleared, Crease goes on a cruise around Europe (and Tahiti) with his wife, Mother gets a Winnebago (with a big kitchen), Carl gets the phone number of a cute girl (who at that time is covering the group with an Uzi) and Whistler asks for peace on earth and goodwill to all men. 'We're the United States Government. We don't DO that sort of thing!' Mr Abbott tells them, but Martin insists that 'You'll just have to try.' and Abbott relents. Liz says she doesn't want anything, she is fine as she is. Finally, Martin hands over the box to Abbot and says;

Related Topics:
Europe - Tahiti - Winnebago - Uzi

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:Martin: You know it doesn't work though? It never did.

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:Abbott: But thats not important is it? What's important is that this never happened. This box doesn't exist.

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:Martin: I never saw it before.

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:Abbott: Remember that.

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In the closing sequence, Liz approaches Martin; 'All you did is say it didn't work. Can't they still hook it up and do terrible things?' Martin shakes his head and says 'Nope.' before removing the codebreaker chip from his shirt pocket - something he had taken out of the box before handing it over.

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As the film closes a TV screen shows the news and an announcer tells us that whilst parties such as the Republican Party have been forced to declare themselves bankrupt, Greenpeace and the United Negro College Fund have announced record earnings due to large, anonymous donations.

Related Topics:
Republican Party - Bankrupt - Greenpeace - United Negro College Fund

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Much of the movie concentrates on the details of breaking into secured locations, in ways sometimes reminisicent of the Mission Impossible TV series.

Related Topics:
Mission Impossible - TV series

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In breaking into Cosmo's facility, the team must bypass a voice recognition device which uses the phrase "My voice is my passport, verify me." This phrase has been widely quoted on the internet.

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