Antitrust (film)
Antitrust (also titled Conspiracy.com[5] and Startup[6]) is a 2001 American techno thriller film written by Howard Franklin and directed by Peter Howitt.[7][8]
"Startup (film)" redirects here. Not to be confused with Start-Up (film).Antitrust
- Nick Wechsler
- Keith Addis
- David Nicksay
- Industry Entertainment
- Hyde Park Entertainment
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
- January 12, 2001
109 minutes[2]
United States
English
$30 million[3]
$18.2 million[4]
Antitrust portrays young idealistic programmers and a large corporation (NURV) that offers a significant salary, an informal working environment, and creative opportunities for those talented individuals willing to work for them. The charismatic CEO of NURV (Tim Robbins) seems to be good-natured, but new employee and protagonist Milo Hoffman (Ryan Phillippe) begins to unravel the terrible hidden truth of NURV's operation.
The film stars Phillippe, Rachael Leigh Cook, Claire Forlani, and Robbins.[9] Antitrust opened in the United States on January 12, 2001, and was generally panned by critics.[8]
Plot[edit]
Working with his three friends at their new software development company Skullbocks, Stanford graduate Milo Hoffman is recruited by Gary Winston, the CEO of the software corporation NURV. Milo is offered an attractive programming position with a large paycheck, an almost-unrestrained working environment, and extensive creative control over his work. After accepting, Hoffman and his girlfriend, Alice Poulson (Forlani), move to NURV headquarters in Portland, Oregon.
Despite development of the flagship product (Synapse, a worldwide media distribution network) being well on schedule, Hoffman soon becomes suspicious of the excellent source code that Winston personally provides to him, seemingly when needed most, while refusing to divulge the code's origin.
After his best friend and fellow computer programmer, Teddy Chin, is murdered, Hoffman discovers that NURV is stealing the code they need from programmers around the world—including Chin—and then killing them. NURV not only employs an extensive surveillance system to observe and steal code, the company has infiltrated the Justice Department and most mainstream media. Even Hoffman's girlfriend is a plant, an ex-con hired by the company to spy on and manipulate him.
In a secret NURV database of employee surveillance dossiers, Hoffman discovers highly-sensitive personal information about Lisa Calighan (Cook), a friendly co-worker. When he says he knows the company has this information about her, she agrees to help him expose NURV's crimes. Coordinating with Brian Bissel, Hoffman's old start-up friend, they plan to use a local public-access television station to hijack Synapse and globally broadcast their charges against NURV. However, Calighan is actually Winston's accomplice and foils Hoffman.
When the plan fails, and as Winston prepares to kill Hoffman, a backup plan is put into motion. Off-screen, Hoffman had previously confronted and convinced Poulson to turn against NURV; she, the fourth member of Skullbocks, and NURV's incorruptible security contractors usurp one of NURV's own work centers—"Building 21"—and transmit incriminating evidence with the Synapse code. Calighan, Winston, and his entourage are arrested by the FBI for their crimes. After amicably parting ways with the redeemed Poulson, Hoffman rejoins Skullbocks.
Reception[edit]
Antitrust received mainly negative reviews, and has a "Rotten" consensus of 24% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 106 reviews, with an average score of 4 out of 10. The summary states "Due to its use of clichéd and ludicrous plot devices, this thriller is more predictable than suspenseful. Also, the acting is bad."[19] The film also has a score of 31 out 100, based on 29 reviews, on Metacritic.[20] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "B+" on scale of A to F.[21]
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film two stars out of four.[10] Linux.com appreciated the film's open-source message, but felt the film overall was lackluster, saying "'AntiTrust' is probably worth a $7.50 ticket on a night when you've got nothing else planned."[22]
James Keith La Croix of Detroit's Metro Times gave the film four stars, impressed that "Antitrust is a thriller that actually thrills."[23]
The film won both the Golden Goblet for Best Feature Film, and Best Director for Howitt, at the 2001 Shanghai International Film Festival.[24]
Home media[edit]
Antitrust was released as a "Special Edition" DVD on May 15, 2001,[25] and on VHS on December 26, 2001.[26] The DVD features audio commentary by the director and editor, an exclusive documentary, deleted scenes and alternative opening and closing sequences with director's commentary, Everclear's music video for "When It All Goes Wrong Again" (which is played over the beginning of the closing credits), and the original theatrical trailer. The DVD was re-released August 1, 2006.[27] It was released on Blu-ray Disc on September 22, 2015.[28]