Episode 70 - Sneakers

In 1992, the director of "Field of Dreams," Phil Alden Robinson,
made a film called "Sneakers" with a far-fetched plot about an
unconstitutional secret NSA domestic surveillance system designed
solely for the purpose of spying on unsuspecting American
citizens. It’s a relief that nothing like that could ever happen
in real life.


Robert Redford plays a wisecracking cool guy with a secret past
who leads a ragtag bunch of misfits who specialize in breaking
into seemingly impenetrable buildings. Sidney Poitier plays a
hot-tempered former CIA agent who is hellbent on scoring an
all-expense paid vacation to Tahiti. Dan Aykroyd plays himself, a
raving mad conspiracy theorist who somehow manages to be likable
despite his unsettling eccentricities. David Strathairn (however
you pronounce his name) plays a blind hacker with superhuman
hearing and Holmesian powers of deduction. And, River Phoenix is
in this movie behaving oddly.


There's also a corny sub-plot where Mary McDonnell plays Robert
Redford’s ex-girlfriend who he’s attempting to reconcile with
while simultaneously using her as a pawn to execute his perilous
caper.


And last but not least, Sir Ben Kingsley plays a meek computer
genius who gets hired by the mafia as their accountant while he's
in prison. As you would expect, he manages to rise through the
ranks of the mob and manages to become their Chief Technology
Officer and becomes evil along the way.


Join us as we try to figure out if River Phoenix was ever a good
actor, discuss which famous actor in this used to be a clown, and
try to unravel this labyrinth of a plot with more holes in it
than Swiss cheese.


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shooting us an email over at mailbag@filmsnuff.com.


This episode is sponsored by the Squirty Potty.


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