The Net


3.5/4

Starring: Sandra Bullock, Jeremy Northam, Dennis Miller

Rated PG-13 for Violence, Some Sexuality and Brief Strong Language

During the mid-to-late nineties, few actresses were more in demand than Sandra Bullock.  After a star-making turn in the 1994 action/thriller “Speed,” Bullock was suddenly a hot commodity.  One of my favorite movies of hers is the underrated suspense-thriller “The Net.”  Hitchcock would have loved this; it’s “North by Northwest” in cyberland.

Shy and introverted computer analyst Angela Bennett (Bullock) is about to go on vacation when she is sent a program by a co-worker that contains a program with a very mysterious glitch: with a few keystrokes, she is able to access and alter any website…government, business, or the stock market, just to name a few.  But that’s just the start of it.  When she gets back to the US, she finds that her identity has been completely erased, and she is now known as Ruth Marx, who has a criminal record.  Worse, a cyber-terrorist group known as the Praetorians are after her because she has a disk that contains the evidence.

Although the plot is terrific and well-executed by director Irwin Winkler, much of the success has to do with Sandra Bullock.  Bullock has enough screen presence and appeal to match, if not surpass, Julia Roberts.  She’s so likable that we can follow her through anything, and she’s a perfect stand-in for Cary Grant in the “wrongfully accused” role.  She is supported by the smooth and cultured Jeremy Northam, a date who turns out to be an assassin working for the Praetorians, and Dennis Miller as her ex-therapist who is the only one who can prove that Angela is who she says she is.  But this is almost all Bullock, and the actress nails it.

The only problem with the film is that the computer mumbo jumbo often makes zero sense.  But then again, I’m incredibly clueless as to how this stuff works, so maybe it does make sense if you know what they’re talking about.  Or it could be the fact that the film is incredibly dated (it was made in 1995, almost 15 years ago, and everyone knows how far we’ve come since then in terms of computers).  Either way, it doesn’t really matter.

Director Irwin Winkler is clearly taking notes from ol’ Hitch, and under the circumstances, it’s the right decision.  Hitch may have died 30 years ago, but had he lived, this is exactly the kind of thing he’d have a ball with.  There are plenty of chases and lots of tension.  What more can you ask for?

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