Common Sense Note
Parents should be aware of the following: The hero faces a dinner--cooked by his duplicitous girlfriend--which might be poisoned. Company assassins chase and corner the good guys. The calculated corporate killing of an Asian-American is covered up as a hate crime, with racial slurs used. Widely scattered profanity -- one use of the F-word. Much drinking of alcohol. The hero plants a homemade bomb to create a distraction while he investigates. Breaking-and-entering, online and off, by the good guy. The very-young-looking hero and his girlfriend are shown in bed together. Mention of one character having been molested by her stepfather. A young man is brutally beaten to death. Hints of other murders (offscreen).
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Charles Cassady, Jr.
For some reason American filmmakers never tire of depicting businessman as greedy, conniving, and evil. Now imagine such a one-sided take on Microsoft chairman Bill Gates, one of the world's richest men. Even though Gates is briefly mentioned as a peripheral figure in ANTITRUST, there's no question that he directly inspired Tim Robbins' diabolical character: the eyeglasses, the casual wear, the author-guru status, the ultramodern Pacific Northwest mansion, and of course, the antitrust lawsuits by the US government.
While there's some high-minded dialogue in which Milo berates Winston for losing his ethics over his electronic toys, ANTITRUST is basically a teen-oriented cyberthriller with gigabytes of tech-talk (if you don't know what "open-source code" means, either bring a translator or rent something else) and the disquieting notion that you can't trust anyone over thirty. Or over $30,000 a year.
Aside from anti-business business, ANTITRUST suffers from the fact that typing on a keyboard and Saving Files to Root Directory just aren't very exciting visually. But Milo spends much of his time doing just that, fingers flying and eyes wide in close-up. There's a blaring soundtrack to tip us off when something is scary, and flashbacks of events and dialogue that took place only moments before--as if viewers aren't expected to have the attention spans to remember such things.
Ryan Phillippe and Rachael Leigh Cook (as a Nurv femme fatale) are popular draws for younger audiences, and parents could conceivably use this movie to discuss the moral choices Milo makes. Or maybe just ask, what in the world is a "transit module?" For a more lighthearted romp in which laptop-toting youth fight corporate greed, log onto Hackers.
Rate It!
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Sexual ContentThe very-young-looking hero and his girlfriend are shown in bed together. Mention of one character having been molested by her stepfather. |
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ViolenceA young man is brutally beaten to death. Hints of other murders (offscreen). The hero faces a dinner--cooked by his duplicitous girlfriend--which might be poisoned. Company assassins chase and corner the good guys. |
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LanguageWidely scattered. One use of the F-word. |
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Social BehaviorThe calculated corporate killing of an Asian-American is covered up as a hate crime, with racial slurs used. |
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Commercialism |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoMuch drinking of alcohol. |
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