MOVIE OF THE DAY: SNEAKERS

LOVE. The definition of under-appreciated. Love this movie.

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This movie is so good, every single viewing feels like the very first. LOVE LOVE LOVE.

 

And if we're talkin' Redford capers, personally, I rank Sneakers a hair ahead of the iconic Butch & waaay ahead of The Sting. After watching The Sting recently, I recall thinking "This flick is great... but it ain't no Sneakers".

Edited by Art Decade - 2/16/11 at 4:00pm

This film is just as fun today as when I was sitting in the cinema back in '92. It has such a lovely light breeziness. Kind of almost a pre-Soderburgh/Clooney Oceans 11 feel without the forced super-coolness.

 

Well put too Josh, it'll never be seen as a classic, but I'm yet to meet a person who dislikes it, simply people who've never seen it.

Great choice, I love the absolute fuck out of this film. Seriously, it just one that I can watch time and time again, always enjoy every goddamn minute and wish to goodness we could have seen more adventures with Martin and the gang.

"This isn't a Car Dealership, Pal!"

Such a big fan of this one. I remember hearing the soundtrack before seeing the film, and it remains one of my absolute favorites (despite the fact that, as it is a Horner score, you've heard it in a dozen of his others since).

"Kingsley's Ponytail" would be a great band name.

I really hope Sneakers will be released on blu-ray.  It came out on HD-DVD a few years back, but it looks like Universal is in no big rush to release it on blu.  It has to be one of my favorite ensemble movies, and I wish it would have caught on more when it was released theatrically.  I would have loved to see the cast get together for another case before Phoenix passed away.

Love this film, although I never quite buy the "passport" scene. Great use of San Francisco locations-- the bit about figuring out which bridge Redford got taken on is particularly sharp.

 

And who could have seen WikiLeaks coming 19 years ago?

 

Surprised there's not more discussion here of Kingsley's bizarre American accent. He got a lot better at it by the time he made Dave in  '93.

The last time Dan Aykroyd was funny? I think so.

Watched this on cable for the first time in a long time about a week ago.  Poitier's character was ex-CIA, not FBI.  And he got fired for his temper.  And for some reason I had always thought Mary McDonnell was Annette Bening.  Surprised the hell out of me to see President Roslin that much younger.

 

This move is so redicliously good it's not even funny. Love it to death.
 

Never seen the connection before but it does feel alot like the Clooney Oceans Eleven.
 

That whole last scene with James Earl Jones is fantastic. Maybe my favorite in the whole movie.

 

love this movie. it was always at my grandmas for some reason so i always watched it there. lots of love for this

One of the very few movies that literally has no flaws for me. Not that it's prefect. It never actually reaches any significant heights, it just works from beginning to end. And again a movie that I actually don't know of a person seeing it and disliking it. I think it may be impossible. 

 

I have to second the Tobolowsky love. He has to be just unsympathetic enough so that our heroes conning him doesn't feel bad. Lesser character actors may have pulled the "I have a rape dungeon in my basement. Let me show you." card. But not him. I just love the guy.

So So happy this movie is getting love. Its just a cool fun well written adult thriller that doesn't seem to be made anymore.

 

I also have to second Ben Kingsleys two monologues in this film. Yes they're a bit over the top but completely nails them. His final confrontation with Redford on the roof is even a little bit sad.

This is such a great film primarily because, going in, you have NO IDEA where it's going to go, or what is going to get revealed. Sure, the black box and its function are kind of pure movie magic tech, but the discovery of it and the subsequent realization of what posessing it entails is such a great goddamn scene. It goes from an amusing take on a heist flick, and once they figure out what the box actually does, there's this "holy mother of God" moment where the stakes of the film skyrocket. There's few films that can pull off this type of "going down a rabbit hole" structure without fumbling or cheating at some point, and this never does. You don't even know who they're up against until an hour into the film, but you don't care because it feels like ANYBODY could be. I was actually thinking about using this as an entry for my new column (cross promotion!), and maybe still will.

 

I do disagree about Poitier's character feeling worthless, though. He's the same function as Joseph-Gordon Levitt in INCEPTION: he's the point man. He has the expertise and the precision, and usually is the one keeping the operation in line. Plus, he gets the hands down most badass line in the film. You know the one I'm talking about. About why he had to leave the CIA.

 

Also great: the way the police sirens illuminate Gregori's face as Redford leaves his limo. "You won't know WHO to trust."

Plus, by the fact that he's played by Sidney Poitier, the audience instinctively knows his background and why he left the CIA. "He's Sidney Poitier, he probably called out some corrupt bullshit and they kicked him out."  

The only worthless person in this movie is River Phoenix. I think the only thing he does in the whole movie is get some blueprints from a library.

And hit on that CIA chick at the end.

My hero!

River jumps down from the ceiling and saves Martin from being shot... When Martin meets the NSA guys at his office, they cover the entire teams dossier and a quasi sort of way he recruited them or at least heard about them.

 

Great film, loved it in the theater when it first came out and still love it to this day. I agree, they need to come out with the blu ray of this so I can mothball my HD-DVD player. Well, and all my other HD-DVD movies need to be Blu Rayed.

It's the last known sighting of the Redford charm on full display. Agreed on McDonnell, I had such a huge crush on her because of this film.

My crush on McDonnell blossomed into full blown love purely because of the way she says "Anal."

 

 

....What?

I understand you, brother.

I saw SNEAKERS on my birthday when it came out. I was in junior high and I was confused my by attraction to McDonnell. She seemed so mom-like in general appearance. Certainly miles away from the ladies I found most attractive at the time (Sharon Stone in TOTAL RECALL, for example). But there was just something about her. A sexy twinkle to the way she spoke and carried herself. It was to serve her well once more, decades later on BATTLESTAR.

I too love this movie.  I usually gotz love for any kind of heist film- this one has a great group of quirky characters coming together.  David Strathairn- is always terrific.  And you cant resist a character  codename "Mother".   

Watching this on HBO right now, it's at the James Earl Jones scene at the end. Such a damned great movie.

 

I think it's the short hair that makes McDonnell so attractive in this. And man is she hot.

It also helps that she has/had a ridiculously tiny waist. Seriously, that pencil skirt outfit when she's at the private school in the beginning? Wowzers.