Sneakers
In 1969, students Martin Brice and Cosmo are sneakers who hack into computer networks using university equipment, to redistribute conservative funds to various liberal causes. The police burst in and arrest Cosmo while Martin is out getting pizza, and Martin becomes a fugitive.
In the present day, Martin, now called Martin Bishop, is running a team of security specialists in San Francisco, including Donald Crease, a former CIA officer and family man; Darren "Mother" Roskow, a conspiracy theorist and electronics technician; Carl Arbogast, a young hacking genius; and Irwin "Whistler" Emery, a blind phone phreak.
Martin is approached by NSA officers Dick Gordon and Buddy Wallace, who know of his former identity. In exchange for clearing his record, he's asked to recover a "black box" from mathematician Dr. Gunter Janek, who has developed the box under the project name "Setec Astronomy" supposedly for the Russian government. Martin is hesitant but agrees to help. With help from his former girlfriend, Liz, Martin and his team secure the box, which is disguised as a telephone answering machine. During their subsequent celebration party, Whistler, Mother, and Carl investigate the box, finding it capable of breaking the encryption of nearly every computer system. Martin works out that "Setec Astronomy" is an anagram of "too many secrets", and issues a lockdown until they can deliver the box the next day.
Martin hands the box to the NSA officers, but quickly leaves after Crease discovers that Janek was killed the night before. He contacts a friend named Gregor in the Russian consulate, who confirms that the officers were rogue agents, and that Janek was working for the NSA. Before Gregor can elaborate further, fake FBI agents kill him and kidnap Martin to a remote location where he's reunited with Cosmo, who Martin thought had died in prison. While in prison, Cosmo developed ties with organized crime, allowing him to escape and become wealthy. He explains his plan to use Janek's box to destabilize the world economy, and offers Martin the chance to join him. Martin refuses, whereupon Cosmo uses the box to break into the FBI and connect Martin's current identity with his former name. Cosmo has Martin knocked out and taken back to the city.
Martin contacts his team and they relocate to Liz's apartment. They contact NSA agent Abbott, who wants the box but cannot offer assistance without it being in Martin's possession. Whistler analyzes the sounds that Martin heard during his kidnapping, and is able to identify the geographic area where Martin was taken. They find a toy company at that location, which is a front for Cosmo's operation. They track down Werner Brandes, the employee whose office is next to Cosmo's. They set Liz up with a fake computer date with Brandes to get his keycard and vocal recognition codes, while the others identify other security features of Cosmo's office. The team successfully get into the building to recover the box.
Brandes begins to suspect Liz during the date, and alerts Cosmo to a possible break-in. Once Liz mentions the computer date in Cosmo's presence, he realizes that Martin is responsible and locks down the facility and holds Martin at gunpoint. Again he tries to convince Martin to join him, but Martin refuses and instead turns over the box. The team escapes before Cosmo realizes that he is holding an empty duplicate of the box's case.
Back at their offices, Martin's team is surrounded by agents led by Abbott. After Martin points out how important the secrecy of the box is to the NSA, who could use it to spy on other agencies, Abbott agrees to clear Martin's record and grant the requests of the rest of his team. After Abbott and the agents leave with the box, Martin shows his team he has rendered the box useless by taking out the main processor.
In a postscript, a news report describes the sudden bankruptcy of the Republican National Committee, and the simultaneous receipt of large anonymous donations by Amnesty International, Greenpeace, and the United Negro College Fund.
comedy, suspenseful, murder, stupid, cult, intrigue, flashback, psychedelic, revenge, entertaining