ANTITRUST
SYNOPSIS:
Young Milo (Ryan Phillippe) is a computer whizz kid working in a garage with his friends
who see a brave and bright new world where computer software is shared freely. But when
the computer billionaire head of NURV, Gary Winston (Tim Robbins), offers Milo a chance to
work on the groundbreaking Synapse program that will deliver instant communication to all
electronic devices simultaneously around the world, Milo accepts the challenge. Or the
temptation, as his friends see it, to sell out. As the deadline for the announced launch
of Synapse approaches, Milo is at the forefront of the action, until he discovers that the
company he works for believes that the end justifies the means. Any means. And there is no
one to trust, not even his girlfriend, Alice (Claire Forlani).
"Big brother is watching. Who do you trust? Who can you trust? Gripping, involving
and edgy, Antitrust is an entertaining suspense thriller set in the world of high
technology, where idealism intersects with commercialism. It's a little like The Firm with
computers or Enemy of the State meets Wargames. While the formula is tried and true, the
enjoyment is in its execution: the characters are well formed, the script carefully paced.
A well made thriller, the high tech production design looks great, and there's a rhythmic
soundtrack that pumps us up with expectation and tension. Tim Robbins makes for a
compelling software corporation mogul; I felt throughout that indeed Big Tim was
watching… and what an imposing, charismatic actor he is. I always marvel how
different hairstyles change his look entirely. Here his greying coif is severely parted on
the side, giving him a kind of geeky, salesman (albeit it successful) kind of look. As you
would expect with the super-super rich, the contrast between the billionaire world of Gary
Winston and everyone else's is well pronounced. Winston has a pad to die for – a
super-cool, spacious, ultra-modern mansion (something you would find in Architectural
Digest), complete with digital canvas paintings that change to paintings you like when
they recognise you are in the room. Oh, and you will also hear the music you like too. Of
course. Who wouldn't be tempted? Ryan Phillippe is appealing as the young computer genius
who embraces the new job with toys, until his conscience is alerted. Good to see the
original Shaft's Richard Roundtree in a cameo that packs a punch. Just as in Vertical
Limits when the characters are prepared to do anything to be the first (to climb the
mountain), in Antitrust, the same non-ethical, man-eat-man philosophy is applied. I
especially enjoyed the slow revelation of which character belongs to whose team (and
payroll) – this is where the psychological mind-games etch their way into our psyche
and a big question mark is raised over absolutely everyone. It's a thrilling race against
time, and while the finale may be tinged with a touch of melodrama, it's a satisfying
conclusion, and an engrossing adventure about control, power and conscience."
Louise Keller
"Our early suspicions that Tim Robbins’ Gary Winston is a thinly veiled blast
at Bill Gates is only partly discarded when a line of dialogue refers to Gates directly in
an attempt to throw us off the scent. But this is really irrelevant, in any event, since
the film is a fairly routine, if well made routine, suspense thriller about a clash of
good and evil, represented here by altruistic computer programmers versus enterpreneurs
who cheat and lie (and worse) to reach world domination – in marketing terms at
least. Superbly realised from the techno point of view, Antitrust has a message inside its
stylish packaging, and it’s a message that will appeal to the millions of
computer-literate filmgoers who dream of free access to killer software. The story also
deftly cuts to the deep with its observations about corporate evils in a flashback to
Greed is Good days, but with a digital twist. It’s certainly entertaining enough to
be a success, even though it is predictable and rather ham fisted in the final reels.
Solid performances and sharp editing lend a hand to director Peter Howitt’s efficient
work. It isn’t very emotionally involving, but it isn’t dead, either."
Andrew L. Urban
|
Email this article

CRITICAL COUNT
Favourable: 1
Unfavourable: 0
Mixed: 1
See our FEATURE
TRAILER




ANTITRUST (M15+)
(US)
CAST: Ryan Phillippe, Rachael Leigh Cook, Claire Forlani, Tim Robbins
DIRECTOR: Peter Howitt
PRODUCER: Nick Wechsler, Keith Addis, David Nicksay
SCRIPT: Howard Franklin
CINEMATOGRAPHER: John Bailey
EDITOR: Zach Staenberg
MUSIC: Don Davis
PRODUCTION DESIGN: Catherine Hardwicke
RUNNING TIME: 108 minutes
AUSTRALIAN DISTRIBUTOR: Fox
AUSTRALIAN RELEASE: April 25, 2001
VIDEO DISTRIBUTOR: Fox Home Entertainment
VIDEO RELEASE: October 31, 2000
|