Movies and The Internet--ANTITRUST

Okay, I'm back for another go at this series. This time I'll be looking at 2001's ANTITRUST, which focuses on fresh-out-of-college computer supergeek Milo Hoffman (played by a way-too attractive to be such a nerd Ryan Phillippe), who is offered a job he can't refuse with the hip Portland-based company NURV, headed by Bill Gates-esque Gary Winston (Tim Robbins). ANTITRUST is yet another cyber-thriller, although this time around the emphasis is on the inner-world of competitive programming, and the drive to be the dominate force in controlling the flow of information, even if it means killing people!

Let's take a look at some scenes from the film:

Here we have Gary trying to convince Milo to join his evil company by impressing him with this CGI view of his mansion.

Once inside, Gary shows off this fancy painting that changes the display depending on who is in the room.

Someone in set design must have been terribly proud of this thing, because it shows up multiple times in the film. Oh, and Milo makes a comment like "doesn't Bill Gates have something like that?" To which Gary responds "Bill who?" Ha! Get it?! By acknowledging Gates with that quip, they can avoid any lawsuits I guess.

Here we have a look at their not-so-impressive lecture hall. I will NEVER UNDERESTIMATE RADICAL VISION again, and I suggest you do the same.

Whoa, not only does Milo have a hot live-in girlfriend, he also gets to hang out with a cute girl at work (yet another example of how computers will totally get you some action).

In another attempt to distance the film from Microsoft's Seattle comparisons, they insert the classic Portland shot so you know this isn't Seattle. I'm actually not too embarrassed to admit I've seen the exact same shot used in an episode of Beverly Hills 90210.

Hmm, I didn't know computer programmers were allowed to pump their own gas in Oregon.

Things start to go wrong for Milo in a meeting with Gary where he finds out some evil about NURV, and trippy montage head-explosion ensues.

When the bad dudes are chasing Milo they use a GPS navigation system, and it turns out those are actual real streets in Portland/Beaverton. Surprisingly, there is amazingly very little misuse of technology in this film.

Milo eventually exposes the horrible truth about the company and takes his message to the world, which of course is visually represented by Times Square.

BTW, The exact same seen was shown in HACKERS, although that time instead of Tim Robbin's face saying "I'M MURDERING PROGRAMMERS" it was Matthew Lilliard's ugly mug.

The last shot of the film shows Milo and his remaining two computer friends celebrating their survival, and thankfully it allowed me to finally see that those friends were actually two different guys. Talk about all white guys looking the same!

ANTITRUST is a difficult film to criticize technologically, instead it really takes a beating when it comes to the script. More than THE NET and HACKERS, which were fun because they were unrealistic and dated, ANTITRUST is just plain stupid, and therefore not recommended.