Hackers

Released in 1995, essentially the eve of the World Wide Web’s unleashing, this is a fascinating mashup of hot teenage lust (Jonny Lee Miller and Angelina Jolie in her first lead role) and computer-based corporate blackmail. Watching it again after a dozen years I see many writers and directors copped bits and ideas for reuse in their own projects, but then again reuse is a holy grail of computer programming and hacking in its most positive sense so its not that bad.

Hackers uses the Robert Morris-authored computer worm of 1988 as its launching point, but transforming college student Morris into 11 year old prodigy Dade Murphy; fast forward seven years and Dade (Miller) and his mom (Alberta Watson) are relocating from Seattle to Manhattan for his senior year of high school. Kate Libby (Jolie) is the school office intern who turns out to be a budding hacker herself, and four male classmates complete their clique.

The main downside is the writers seemingly had a grasp of technology based on reading random computer product datasheets. At one point near the climax Penn Jillette, playing some sort of computer security analyst, starts screaming “They’re into the kernel! They’re into the kernel!” At another the teenage hacker boys are checking out Jolie’s laptop, throwing out features as if they were centerfold measurements.

Fisher Stevens, the villain of the piece, does come up with one sentiment that is totally absurd but allegedly an expression of the hacker mentality: “There is no more good or evil, there’s only fun and boring.” The technical details of the plot are on a similar level, but the tension, especially between Jolie and Miller, makes Hackers watchable.

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