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,…

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,…

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.)…