The Net, starring Sandra Bullock in a typical role as a lonely computer expert who works from home. Bullock makes Angela Bennett an appealing and plausible character in this thriller with its creepy, paranoid story.
Life is just ordinary when Angela Bennett (Bullock’s character) stumbles across a computer program that has the power to tamper with everything from the Federal Government, to Wall Street and air-traffic control.
In typical Hollywood style, the owners of the program come after Bennett and this creates chaos in the life of this meek and lonely computer geek. They change all her personal information, including her picture I.D., her social security number and her fingerprints, rendering her non-existent on the powerful Internet.
A vacation in Mexico, along with her laptop and the disk that contains the evil program, becomes a nightmare when Bullock’s character meets a dashingly handsome, rich and smart Englishman named Jack Devlin, played by Jeremy Northam. While Angela Bennett thinks Jack Devlin is interested in her heart, it is clear to the viewers that all he really wants is the disk and he does everything to try to get hold of it.
When Angela finally discovers what is going on and that her life is in danger, she decides to escape back to California. However, Angela Bennett has been removed from every computer in the world and her records match the name Ruth Marx.
Since Ruth Marx is wanted for drug dealing and prostitution, Angela cannot go to the police for help while trying to regain her identity and root out the villains. To make matters worse, Angela’s mother, played by Diane Baker has Alzheimer’s disease and can’t recognize her daughter. Neighbors and friends can’t identify her due to the fact that she has lived her lived entirely on the Internet for four years.
Only two people from her past are able to vouch for her, but whom would she choose?
Mr. Winkler, the director is better known as the producer of Rocky and Raging Bull and more recently for directing Night and the City and Guilty by Suspicion. Clues are made painstakingly clear to the audience. While the directing style is leaving little to the imagination, Bullock’s sincere performance and the intriguing plot save the day.
The Net is a great suspense thriller with a nerve-wracking twist and well worth the 118 minutes running time.
Recent Comments