Where to watch Antitrust
1 1/2 Stars
This movie is the fictional story of computer programming genius Milo Hoffman after graduating from Stanford and getting out into the competitive world of computer software. In his contemplation of where to begin his career, he is contacted by Gary Winston whose character is loosely based on Bill Gates. Winston is the CEO of a company called NURV, and they are on the brink of completing the global communication’s system, Synapse. They need Hoffman to help them meet their launch date, so after much thought and with the full support of his girlfriend Alice, he accepts the job. Tragedy soon after strikes and Milo becomes suspicious of the company he has been wrapped up in. He learns that trusting anyone could be a mistake, and that nothing is as it seems.
This movie is the fictional story of computer programming genius Milo Hoffman after graduating from Stanford and getting out into the competitive world of computer software. In his contemplation of where to begin his career, he is contacted by Gary Winston whose character is loosely based on Bill Gates. Winston is the CEO of a company called NURV, and they are on the brink of completing the global communication’s system, Synapse. They need Hoffman to help them meet their launch date, so after much thought and with the full support of his girlfriend Alice, he accepts the job. Tragedy soon after strikes and Milo becomes suspicious of the company he has been wrapped up in. He learns that trusting anyone could be a mistake, and that nothing is as it seems.
In 2001, there was a buzz around Ryan Phillippe as a leading man; he had appeared in Cruel Intentions alongside his future wife, Reese Witherspoon, and MGM had signed the actor to a two-picture deal. The first was the box office dud “Way of the Gun,” and the second was “Antitrust,” which was sold as a tech-based corporate action thriller. The studio financed the production with a healthy $30 million budget, and like Hackers(1995), it lost money on the project when the final Box-office tally barely cracked $18 million worldwide. I was one of the few who ventured to a movie theater back in the day to see this one, and revisiting it now, a quarter century later, I have the same reaction: apathy.
Maybe it’s the visual color tone of the picture, or the chintzy production design, or the lackluster performances that make Antitrust such a slog to get through. This movie is a junior varsity version of The Firm. It’s laughable when it should be serious, and the story’s message, a very socialist slant for a disposable thriller, makes for one of the goofiest and most confused films of 2001. Phillipe would survive this muddled dud and have a long career; the same can’t be said for co-stars Cook and Forlani, both talented actresses who faded from movie screen appearances by the mid-2000’s.
Directed by: Peter Howitt
Written by: Howard Franklin
Starring: Ryan Phillippe, Tim Robbins, Rachael Leigh Cook