The evil boss of a vast computer empire (who happens to look just
like Bill Gates) enlists the services of a teenage super-techie Milo
Hoffman (Ryan Phillippe) to help him in his final step towards
world domination. But Milo is not so much of a nerd that he would
fail to notice the underhand things going on.
Aside from the opening premise, this is a techno conspiracy
thriller pretty much along the lines of "The Net", including the "let
the whole world know" ending. But Phillipe's character doesn't
have the charisma that Sandra Bullock did in her film.
It's enjoyable enough but fails to live up to its potential. We are
given tantalising glimpses of back-stories that might explain why
some of the minor characters go along with the conspiracy.
Unfortunately, these come mainly from computer screen read-outs
(not the most inspiring way of providing exposition) and then get
virtually ignored anyway. Most of the twists are signalled well in
advance and some of the dialogue is extremely clumsy.
I'm still trying to work out what purpose Rachel Leigh Cook's
character served. Despite second billing, she does little more than
make an occasional "rabbit-in-the headlights" face. Maybe her
decent scenes ended up on the cutting-room floor.
The film really hits its stride towards the end when it switches to a
straightforward race against time. Not a great movie but
reasonable enough light entertainment.
like Bill Gates) enlists the services of a teenage super-techie Milo
Hoffman (Ryan Phillippe) to help him in his final step towards
world domination. But Milo is not so much of a nerd that he would
fail to notice the underhand things going on.
Aside from the opening premise, this is a techno conspiracy
thriller pretty much along the lines of "The Net", including the "let
the whole world know" ending. But Phillipe's character doesn't
have the charisma that Sandra Bullock did in her film.
It's enjoyable enough but fails to live up to its potential. We are
given tantalising glimpses of back-stories that might explain why
some of the minor characters go along with the conspiracy.
Unfortunately, these come mainly from computer screen read-outs
(not the most inspiring way of providing exposition) and then get
virtually ignored anyway. Most of the twists are signalled well in
advance and some of the dialogue is extremely clumsy.
I'm still trying to work out what purpose Rachel Leigh Cook's
character served. Despite second billing, she does little more than
make an occasional "rabbit-in-the headlights" face. Maybe her
decent scenes ended up on the cutting-room floor.
The film really hits its stride towards the end when it switches to a
straightforward race against time. Not a great movie but
reasonable enough light entertainment.