ANTITRUST (PG-13)
MGM Offical website
Director: Peter Howitt
Producers: Nick Wechsler, Keith Addis, David Nicksay
Written By: Howard Franklin
Cast: Ryan Phillippe, Tim Robbins, Claire Forlani, Rachel Leigh Cook, Richard Roundtree
Rating: out of 5
THE FIRM meets THE NET in this predictable techno-thriller populated by teen
stars and flat-panel computer displays. Milo Hoffman (Phillippe) is an
idealistic computer genius who is about to launch a garage start-up with his
best friend when he is recruited to work for Nurv, a multi-billion-dollar
software company run by Gary Winston (Robbins). Swayed by the opportunity to
develop software that will change the world (as well as a Mercedes Benz SUV),
Milo and his artist girlfriend (Forlani) move to Portland. At first Milo
enjoys being the boy wonder, basking in Winston's attentions and even
catching the eye of the resident girl wonder (Cooke). But when he gets his
first taste of the shine rubbing off in the form of getting yelled at by
Winston, Milo suddenly begins to harbor suspicions about his boss (really I'm
serious) and goes into Hardy Boys mode. You can figure out the rest from there.
Although the filmmakers pay lip service early in the story to the fact that
Winston is not Bill Gates, everything else in the movie relating to the
fictional company Nurv, from the sprawling campus to the puzzle-shaped
tables in the offices, screams Microsoft. Apple computer lovers such as
myself will gain some extra satisfaction in squinting their eyes whenever
Robbins is onscreen and picturing him as Bill Gates, making the ending all
the more satisfying and therefore garnering this movie an extra half a star.
—Sandhya Shardanand
hybridCinema
Ratings Guide:
Take a pal and pay full price for both tickets.
It’s worth a full-price ticket.
It’s worth a matinee ticket.
Wait for video rental.
Check out the video from the library, if you must.
While we would never encourage anyone to destroy a video...
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