Antitrust (2001)

It does its job; nothing more, nothing less...

I remember when this movie was first released. It looked interesting and exciting to me and so I saw it in the theater, and I enjoyed it. It's not a great movie; the plot is farfetched and one dimensional and the acting is flawed, but the film is entertaining none-the-less. This is the definition of popcorn fluff; simple yet exciting and serviceable.

`Antitrust' tells the story of computer genius Milo Hoffman who plans to open an open-source site for the public with his friends, especially fellow genius Teddy Chin. His plans are turned upside down when Gary Winston, president of NURV, offers him a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; to single-handedly help him launch his open-source program. Milo takes Gary up on his offer and soon has joined the NURV team and is working hard for the `enemy'. Soon, obviously, Milo realizes that Gary is not the man he claims to be and that his business practices are less than admirable; in fact they are deadly. In order to expose him for the monster he is he will need the help from a few friends, but who can he trust?

Ryan Phillippe was the `it' boy for a while thanks to his performance in `Cruel Intentions' and while I actually thought he nailed that performance beautifully I think he was a little miscast here. He's not very believable as a computer genius; but whatever. He is a little too pouty here, a little to melancholy. Claire Forlani is a beautiful girl and a decent actress (I loved her in `Meet Joe Black') and she works here, but she's nothing spectacular. In fact, none of the acting here is really up to par; even Tim Robbins turns out a somewhat hacked variation of his talent. They deliver decently but no one ever excels. Rachael Leigh Cook is beautiful to look at but kind of dense.

The plot is extremely unbelievable; but I kind of expected that much. The ending is completely ridiculous and sadly the dialog at times is preposterously cheesy (i.e. "In the real world, when you kill people they die - for real!") but the actors do their best to sound like it's natural. The character development was a real downside for me. Everyone just seemed so clichéd, so one-dimensional and simple. No one really seems all that interesting to me. They could have really improved there, but when you're attempting to create a semi-respectable teen thriller in order to fill theater seats then you really don't need character development; you just need decent thrills and a bunch of `hot young things'.

`Antitrust' is not a bad movie, but it's not a good one either. It's in the middle. It's a fun movie, one you can turn your brain off and enjoy. Sometimes that is more than enough. You could definitely do better than `Antitrust', but you could also do worse. May 23, 2008

The 'Net in the Northwest

"Antitrust" is a fun little B movie mainly set in beautiful Portland,Oregon. Ryan Philippe stars as geeky boy genius,Milo, from Stanford. He gets an offer he can't refuse from techno mogul,Gary Winston (Tim Robbins) Claire Forlani stars as his concerned,and slightly creepy girlfriend Alison.

When Milo goes to Portland,he meets the equally geeky Lisa (Rachael Leigh Cook),who seems to take more than a casual interest in him because he's now Gary's protege. Gary, in the meantime,is crafting Synapse,his Uber-Worldwide Web. He's the evil genius as a compulsive potato chip eater. Robbins is having a rolicking time as the villain. When Milo's friends are mysteriously killed,he endangers himself to find out the truth. And sesame seeds are involved. Milo bravely hacks into the system,facing dangerous security guards along with a love scene and sweet-and-sour sauce. Bring your chopsticks!

"Antitrust" ends preachy and heavy-handedly,but it's a gloriously wild ride. Who can Milo trust? Is it Alison or Lisa? Where he can go? The worldwide web turns out to be a complex web. Philippe is a convincingly cute hacker,who opens the movie triumphantly shouting,"We're geeks!" So,give a shout-out to geeks and enjoy this movie! March 28, 2008

Nice little enjoyable film

AntiTrust is a film that all cyber geeks can relate to. The film stared a then up and coming Ryan Phillpee as Milo a computer hacker who goes to work for a company that isn't what it seems. The film is fast paced and one of my favorite actors Tim Robbins makes a great villian. March 25, 2008

High-tech thriller you don't have to be a geek to enjoy

Creative and interesting plot with many twists and surprises in terms of just who is good and who is part of the criminal conspiracy to steal programmer's code and to then kill any programmer who is ahead of the company N.U.R.V. in developing a system to link the world's communication devices through a series of linked satellites. Suspend disbelief in how sophisticated the survelliance of programmers at work and marvel at the plausible explanations to deny accountability and justify whatever "creative" means are required to be first with the technology. The home of the C.E.O. is set and has features actually in the home of Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft. A touch of humor is in citing Bill Gates technology and saying that his is "primitive". Fast-moving as you and the young and brilliant protagonist, Milo, find who can be trusted and who cannot be. It also presents the argument for open-source code and keeping information free for all to use. I thoroughly enjoyed it! March 19, 2008

NOT BEYOND REALITY

Call me an alarmist, but I see in this movie much more than an updated "Goldfinger" movie circa 1965.No, I'm afraid I see an updated '7 Days in May" intellect, controlled by brilliant, unstable,neo-Nazi civilian elements.Think about it. Robbins wants to be the first person to be able to control global communications and will go to any desperate measures possible to attain his objective. Were it not for Phillippe, he would have pulled it off. Most pictures involving "takeovers"in the past have involved some sort of military unrest or coup planning. In "Antitrust" we have civilian workers, many brilliant and well paid, working toward a common goal. The major problem is that Robbins is obsessed,unstable, and, armed with his "wannabes", an extremely dangerous personality: perhaps a Hitler in the making. Believe me, this is not your 1964 James Bond flick. By all means, see it, then see it again. November 25, 2007

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