Two Cents is a Cinapse original column akin to a book club for films. The Cinapse team curates the series and contribute their “two cents” using a maximum of 200-400 words. Guest contributors and comments are encouraged, as are suggestions for future picks. Join us as we share our two cents on films we love, films we are curious about, and films we believe merit some discussion. Would you like to be a guest contributor or programmer for an upcoming Two Cents entry? Simply watch along with us and/or send your pitches or 200-400 word reviews to cinapse.twocents@gmail.com.
The Pick: Sneakers (1992)
For the rest of the year, we’re focusing on the great career of the late, great Robert Redford. In this year of great contention and struggle, celebrating some of the great American actors and filmmakers has been a solace for many of us here at Cinapse. With the recent passing of a true legend in Redford, it felt like it was only appropriate to do a deep dive into some of his great films. In fact, he was the heartbeat of so many great American films, calling a two month retrospective a “deep dive” is a false moniker. It barely scratches the surface of his almost mythological career. As we explore some films we love and films we are newly experiencing, we invite you to join us for our Redford Retrospective.
Phil Alden Robinson (Field of Dreams) directed 1992’s Sneakers and co-wrote the screenplay with Lawrence Lasker and Walter F. Parkes (WarGames). Robert Redford, our Two Cents focus for this month and next, leads the comedy-thriller as Martin Bishop, a former hacker who now heads a for-hire security consultancy firm. His staff includes ex-CIA agent Crease (Sidney Poitier), conspiracy theorist Mother (Dan Ackroyd), baby-faced hacker Carl (River Phoenix), and blind tech whiz Whistler (David Strathairn). The team gets roped into an espionage scheme and, with the help with Mary McDonnell’s sharp Liz, have to outwit a group led by Ben Kingsley (whose accent here is all over the place). It’s more cerebral than your typical action film, but a fun caper all the same.
The Team
Elizabeth Stoddard
Sneakers is the only Robert Redford film I revisit often, and it’s not just for him (although his charming character is certainly a factor). I personally get a kick out of the outdated early ‘90s tech, especially after a viewing with my oldest friend some years back where we made “beep bop boop” noises whenever the cast would use a computer. The cast assembled here is crammed with talent: River Phoenix! David Strathairn! Mary McDonnell! Sidney Poitier, the man and the legend! It’s an absolute treat to see them play off each other as a ragtag group of misfits assembled by suave Martin Bishop (Redford) to provide security consultancy services… before they get roped into some shady business.
Each time I watch the film, there’s a different facet to appreciate. This time the score by James Horner (Glory, Titanic) was the standout, a jazzy percussive work with distinct contributions from saxophonist Branford Marsalis. The scoring punctuates the drama onscreen, adding more tension to action sequences (especially the office break-in).
There’s also a deep sense of distrust of governments and institutions pervading the film, which hits different in 2025. I noted Timothy Busfield’s character commenting that the NSA is “not chartered for domestic surveillance”; post-9/11, that’s mostly what we associate the agency with. Even the “good” feds here – led in a cameo by James Earl Jones – aren’t entirely trustworthy as far as this crew is concerned. And trust is an underlying theme in Sneakers, with Bishop placing his in his crew (and rightfully so).
Sneakers shows a Hitchcock-ian influence in the suspenseful story involving espionage and misplaced blame, but the humor throughout is more fun than even early works by Hitchcock. The 1992 film leads the audience through many twists and turns and it’s always an enjoyable adventure.
Brendan Agnew
Sneakers was actually my introduction to Robert Redford. One of my best friends randomly threw this on one night while hanging with me and my sister back in the mid-90s, and I was instantly captivated by both the slickly engrossing subgenre of heist capers and the screen presence of Marty Bishop. Sneakers is probably responsible for both my affection for “competence porn” and for Redford’s quiet command of the screen. The thoughtful confidence of this actor really impressed a kid who already knew River Phoenix from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and James Earl Jones from Star Wars, but Redford was magnetic without ever having to bluster. Even without full appreciation of the history of the period or the canny casting of “aging veterans” like Poitier and Redford (younger here than Tom Cruise is in about half the Mission: Impossible films), the clear personal yarn of the crew getting framed and having to clear their names by doing One Last Job were magic for me.
Revisiting Sneakers as an adult is one of the rare magic tricks that hold up. I’m an easy mark for huge spectacle, and I love my high genre blockbusters from the MI films to much sillier fare, but there’s something about this movie’s low-scale/high stakes that makes it as riveting as any great spectacle. The tech and politics feel grounded in a moment in time that makes it feel like a period piece as much as a “contemporary” film, with a reality just heightened enough to allow the crew’s constant sleight-of-hand to work. It’s delightful watching a young(er) David Strathairn pitch fastballs alongside Dan Ackroyd, Mary McDonnell is as luminous as she is razor-sharp, and it’s the rare ensemble that feels like hanging with genuine friends. In a career as long-reaching and monumental as Redford’s, Sneakers may feel like something of a B-side, but it’s an A+ example thereof.
Ed Travis
Mission: Impossible Minus One
Sneakers, while still delightful and boasting an almost impossibly good ensemble cast, does hit a little different today than it did in 1992. I was excited to revisit this beloved film that I’d watched with my father in my childhood, and it really does remain the satisfying, crowd-pleasing, twisting/turning caper that it always has been. But it wasn’t until the final act when Redford and his team lay out their plan to steal back a code-breaking Maguffin device from their nemesis played by Ben Kingsley that I recognized how significantly this film and its template influenced what would become the formula for Tom Cruise’s cinematic Mission: Impossible franchise.
You’ve got this misfit team of technical geniuses who are willing to go farther and stretch the boundaries of what is physically and technically possible in order to save the day from villains. You’ve got a charismatic leader at the core who inspires undying loyalty from said crew of misfits, in part because at the end of the day, they all believe they’re doing the right thing. And in the end, it’s their bonds as friends, nay family, that give them the edge they need to snatch victory from their smarter, better-funded rival, who takes a lone wolf approach and seals his fate in the process.
Of course, while I adore Tom Cruise and have followed his career closely over many decades, the man just doesn’t exude the sex appeal and human connection that Robert Redford does. Cruise’s love for his female leads and his brothers in arms is often symbolic, or unspoken, but Redford’s Bishop is actually clearly in love with Mary McDonnell’s Liz, and the chemistry and romanticism sparks more obviously thanks to Redford’s innate abilities than any of the romance in the M:I films. And while Cruise’s Ethan Hunt has to practically crucify himself in every installment, Redford’s a casual, debonair white-hat crook who largely charms his way through their caper. Mission: Impossible is dialed up to 11, where Sneakers simply doesn’t have to go as hard while it sets its machinations in place that would go on to highly influence all hacker/spy/heist films that would follow in its footsteps.
Frank Calvillo
From the later 80s and well into the 90s, Redford’s career had definitely taken on a more commercial tone with projects like Legal Eagles, Indecent Proposal, and all the way to The Horse Whisperer. At the same time, he began to come off as pickier when it came to the roles he decided to take on. He famously walked out of The American President in favor of Up Close and Personal. For a while, it seemed that the Hollywood maverick who had helped rewrite the system was now submitting to it.
Sneakers falls right into that period of Redford’s career. The film is a popcorn romp, a commercial caper with a seemingly far-fetched plot complete with improbable situations and sigh gags galore. What’s most impressive about this movie is how they got one of Hollywood’s most eclectic ensembles to star as a trio of motley computer nerds/hackers. Besides Redford, Sidney Poitier, River Phoenix, Mary McDonnell, Dan Aykroyd, David Strathairn, and Ben Kinglsey all show up game for what is most definitely a paycheck film. Fun fact, this is one of those rare times where the entire principal cast are all either Oscar winners or nominees.
Yes, Sneakers is silly, goofy, and made to cater to the masses. But it’s also great fun. The entire cast has a ball and the movie gives us plenty of sequences that are either funny (such as Redford and the keypad) or nailbiting. Yes, it’s weird seeing the great Poitier deliver such basic lines as Tahiti not being part of Europe. But he and Redford, not to mention the rest of the gang, seem to be having a true blast.
If Sneakers succeeds at one thing the most, it’s in the way it so wonderfully utilizes Redford’s sense of humor, a muscle he was never called to flex as often as he should’ve been. The actor shows expert timing and delivery in his comedic scenes, nailing every beat and laugh. Sneakers is by no means any of the cast’s best movie, but for many them, Redford especially, it’s definitely one of their most delightfully escapist.
Spencer Brickey
Sneakers is one of those films I feel like I’ve been hearing about for years, specifically as this “hidden gem” tucked into Redford’s (kinda nonexistent) 90s run. I knew very little about it, beyond the cast and the basic idea that this was a caper film. So, I went in pretty blind.
And you know what? They were right! This was a treat! A solid little heist team-up film that knows how to hit all the marks, but is also weird enough to set itself apart from the pack. Sneakers is one of the few films, post his 70s run, that understands that one of the best Redford archetypes is “cheeky little scoundrel”, as Redford just mugs and charms his way through this, consistently adding levity that never feels like its taking air out of the room.
Joining Redford is a murderers row of character actors, including Dan Aykroyd, Sidney Poitier, River Phoenix, Mary McDonnell, David Strathairn, Donal Logue, and Ben Kingsley. Even packing a cast like this, the surprise MVP here is Strathairn, playing a blind hacker who spends half his time hacking by sound & a braille keyboard, and the other half just taking the piss out of everyone. Also he has the breeziest, funnest relationship with Redford, which helps cement the fun, lighthearted backbone of Sneakers.
While on the surface, Sneakers looks like a pretty basic heist film, it has all these very strange eccentricities that make it into something much more unique. There is an undercurrent present here of paranoia, specifically of the 70s political thriller type. Redford deals with shady government types who appear and disappear like ghosts, secrets are seemingly pulled out of thin air, and the walls begin to close on Redford and co as they are framed for espionage and murder. In a scene that feels like it is ripped from a much darker film (in my mind, specifically The Parallax View), Redford is present for the murder of a Russian diplomat. It is such a stark departure from everything before and after, that it adds this darkness to everything that occurs after it. Again, a very strange, but very interesting film.
I feel like there were a lot of these kinda goofy team up films in the 90s that totally fell on their face (the biggest ones coming to mind are Hudson Hawk & The Marlboro Man), but Sneakers is able to avoid most of that by knowing what it is, while also knowing how and when to sprinkle in the action and the humor.
It probably also helps that Redford wasn’t the type of inflated ego to have an entire musical sequence built into the script for himself (Looking at you, Hudson Hawk…).
November and December Lineup: Redford Retrospective
November and December Lineup: Redford Retrospective
