The Net *** (1995, Sandra Bullock, Jeremy Northam) – Classic Movie Review 1192

Sandra Bullock discovers a hi-tech conspiracy in director Irwin Winkler’s half-decent 1995 thriller that stays involving even though it’s saddled with a plot so predictable you just beg for at least one surprise.

Bullock plays Angela Bennett, a beautiful but eccentric computer consultant who receives a classified e-mail message, and she’s unexpectedly thrust into a maze of deception and betrayal. Suddenly on the run from anti-government hackers, she finds herself stripped of everything, including her own identity. Desperately searching for her missing father, she embarks on the adventure of a lifetime – if only she can stay alive.

Bullock’s her usual fine, feisty self, and gives a commendably spunky performance that ranks as one of her best. Jeremy Northam may be typecast as the British baddie Jack Devlin, but he does it smoothly and efficiently. John D Brancato and Michael Ferris’s script is desperately cheesy and plodding, but Winkler directs skilfully, papering over the cracks.

In 1998, Melrose Place’s Brooke Langton starred in a straight rerun of the plot as the pilot TV movie for a cable TV series.

(C) Derek Winnert 2014 Classic Film Review 1192

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