Review of Sneakers (1992) by Grant P — 11 Feb 2009

Sneakers is an incredibly dynamic caper comedy with elements of cyberpunk and espionage thrown in for good measure. The writers of the film made one of the more interesting relations to the cyberpunk genre concerning the sneakers' means of using low tech manipulation and trickery in a high tech world. The scene where Martin devises a method to initially steal the black box is a terrific example of this notion. However, Sneakers really is a more elusive, obscure film that wanders through boundary lines of many genres.

With a primary focus on intelligent characters, intelligence is also expected from the audience in decoding anagrams, mathematical and philosophical speech and following the many serrated plotlines. The film is constantly propelled toward a larger idea both in narrative and thematically. The thematic propulsion fully solidifies about halfway through the film. "Everything in the world operates not on reality but the perception of reality." This is most important in the existence of the sneakers as security consultants, Playtronics corporation, and the elevated state of paranoia that is inevitably created in a caper flick.

Ultimately, though, inbetween the sleuthing and high concepts, the writers and commentators define and ground Sneakers as a story and film about a man coming to terms with his past. Martin is confronted with his past on many levels through a series of interrelated characters, and he realizes that he exists between the lines of morality and visibility much like his team and Sneakers does as a work of cinema.