I could be as creative as I possibly can – this movie is why God invented celluloid™ – but it will likely be impossible for me to properly explain why this has been my absolutely favourite movie ever since I watched it back when it came out.

But perhaps this true story will explain my infatuation at least a little bit.

Ben Kingsley's accent is totally inexplicable, Robert Redford genuinely says "I'm getting too old for this!", and Bishop's Russian attaché friend is amazingly broad. And yet somehow, this remains one of my favourite movies and I can recite it to the letter. Great score, too.

This film is still far too unknown. The cast is wonderful with David Strathairn in a league of his own. It's not that often that comedy and action go as well together as they do here.

Back in 1992, I think I saw this movie because of River Phoenix. But while he was great in it, I was surprised to find I loved the entire cast. Redford? Poitier? Kingsley? McDonnell? Talented actors, no doubt, but not exactly my A-list, right? But this cast is perfect, especially David Strathairn, who manages to stand out in already amazing cast - no small feat.

The success of the film, though, is largely due to the writing, which is fun, exciting, and best of all, smart. Intelligent comedies don't come along too often, so it's disappointing that this one is so overlooked. Personally, I would have nominated it for all kinds of Oscars. It ranks right up there as the #1 or #2 film of 1992 for me.

Set immediately after the end of the Cold War, it would have been very easy for Sneakers to have been a product of its time and quickly become dated. But in a lot of ways, this film is even more relevant than it was upon its release. Computers were still isolated devices in 1992, but they’re everywhere and highly interconnected now. And when we hear Cosmo talking about how perception affects reality, and can bring down banks, stock markets, currencies, commodities, and even small countries — well, it’s hard not to consider the past few years when we’ve seen peoples’ bad decisions bring down banks, stock markets, currencies, etc. Sneakers is a thrilling, funny, interesting, intelligent, and relevant film for both computer geeks and regular people alike. Read my full review for why it's one of my favorite films.

Coming from some of the same team that was behind War Games, Sneakers is a predictably fun, breezy, caper that manages not to over-emphasize the technology to the point of dating itself. Yeah, like War Games, there's a lot of outdated tech on display, but the movie works regardless. It's just an fun way to spend a couple of hours with a solid cast and plot.

This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.

quite funny

Incredible cast list puts in performances in this standard fair movie, lifting it above the average into a really good movie

A carnival version of The Conversation, I want to call it, but this doesn't get across how the movie explodes 1970-1990 filmic grammar and then rearranges the shiny, overdeveloped pieces. The effect was really kaleidoscopic for me, Sidney Poitier doing theatrical indignance one moment and Dan Ackroyd slouching in sweats the next, Robert Redford doing the same sheepish eyes under his toupeeish hair that he did in The Sting. (Robert Redford's always in a buddy movie, even when he's not.) I watched this on Amazon instant video and wonder whether there was something wrong with the sound, but what I heard seemed blanketed and flat, increasing the movie's bricolage nature. Finally a question for Zach, who is responsible for this weirdly enjoyable assault upon my senses: is Ben Kingsley supposed to be from Boston?

A really fun caper film, with a top-tier, game cast. Loved it.

An interesting cast and unique premise come together to make an enjoyable little movie that never takes itself too seriously.