In this tech-thriller from director
Phil Alden Robinson, a group of five renegade computer hackers, led by Martin Bishop (
Robert Redford), are hired by the government to steal a black box, containing a code-breaking machine, from the mathematician who invented the device. The government is able to persuade Martin to take the job by convincing him that they will drop a decades-old federal warrant for his involvement in computer fraud. Martin agrees and he takes his team on the mission, eventually taking the box. Shortly after the hackers have stolen the device, the mathematician turns up dead. Before long, the quintet realize that they've gotten themselves into more than they'd originally bargained for, as Bishop's old rival Cosmo (
Ben Kingsley) enters into the fold. The eclectic ensemble also includes
River Phoenix,
Sidney Poitier,
Dan Aykroyd,
David Strathairn,
Mary McDonnell, and
James Earl Jones. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide