Microsoft's favourite film - NOT! (Antitrust (DVD))

Member Name: GroundZero

Product:	Antitrust (DVD)
Date:	14/05/01 (166 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good plot, Tim Robbins is good as Bill Gates lookalike Gary Winston

Disadvantages: Some things may be above some people's heads

Hollywood traditionally hasn’t done too well when it comes to films with a technical theme. They have to strike the fine line between keeping things simple enough for the general public to understand, while not alienating those who know their stuff by trying to blind the audience with fake science. AntiTrust is refreshingly strong in this respect, getting the balance just about right.

Ryan Philippe plays Milo Hoffman, an exceptionally gifted young computing graduate, who goes against the wishes of his closest friends by accepting an offer to join the high profile software company NURV (Never Underestimate Radical Vision!). Instead of working with his friends Teddy and Larry, he is swayed by a personal invitation from the charismatic boss of NURV, Gary Winston, a man that Milo clearly idolises. His friends are less impressed with NURV, pointing to the ways in which it crushes its opposition and illegally stifles the competition.

Tim Robbins is extremely good as Bill Gates lookalike Winston. A driven man, he demands excellence from his team of programmers, and has an uncontrollable desire to dominate the industry. He sees Milo as the final piece in the jigsaw, as NURV struggles to meet its deadlines as it prepares to launch its revolutionary software Synapse.

Milo is initially seduced by the glamour of working for the most prestigious company around, in addition to having Winston as his personal mentor. Before long however he becomes concerned as to the methods used by NURV to maintain its stranglehold in the market. When his close friend Teddy is brutally bludgeoned to death, supposedly by racist killers, Milo becomes suspicious as to the real murderers. His suspicions are heightened when pieces of computer code are given to him by Winston, with no explanation of their origins.

Claire Forlani plays Milo’s girlfriend Alice, the person to whom he turns when he starts to suspect that all is not well with NURV. Wh
en Milo becomes involved with the introverted Lisa at work, she begins to believe that Milo may be cheating on her. Milo on the other hand merely wants to discover the truth behind NURV’s shady dealings.

There are a number of sly digs at Microsoft in this film. Only the most unobservant could fail to notice the similarities between the fictional NURV and everyone’s favourite(!) computer company. Little touches like the Rolling Stones track playing in the background in the dinner party scenes (coincidentally the same tune that MS used to launch Windows 95….) may go over most people’s heads, but are amusing nonetheless.

Most Hollywood films with a computing theme tend to alienate anyone with half a clue about computers by introducing completely unbelievable elements. Hackers, although a film I enjoyed a lot, had very little basis in reality (come to think of it, the most enjoyable thing about it was Angelina Jolie…..). Sneakers was slightly better, but still some way short of being truly believable. AntiTrust is much more realistic in the way it deals with the technical aspects.

Interestingly the software you see in use throughout the film is based around the Linux platform, possibly because any use of MS software might have been enough to make Microsoft’s lawyers even more itchy…. Watch out for cameo appearances by Scott McNealy of Sun, and Miguel De Icaza, of Linux GNOME fame.

An above average thriller, AntiTrust probably won’t appeal to most people. When I saw it in the cinema, a couple of people walked out after about half an hour presumably because the plot was over their heads. One of the things about the film is that the ideals of the Open Source movement are only ever hinted at, and I suspect the majority of the general public are completely oblivious to what it means. While this won’t affect your enjoyment of the film substantially, I was surprised that it was
not better explained at an early stage.

I enjoyed this film more than I was expecting to. I had been led to believe that it was below average, but it works perfectly well as a thriller, with a good number of plot twists thrown in for good measure.

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