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Tim Robbins stars as a Bill Gates-like software tycoon
whose corporation goes about being number one in the industry by any means necessary; Ryan
Phillippe co-stars as an idealistic computer genius. Also with Rachael Leigh Cook, Claire
Forlani, Tygh Runyan, Ned Bellamy, Douglas McFerran, Zahf Hajee, Scott Bellis, Nate
Dushku, Tyler Labine and Julie McDowell. [1:50]
SEX/NUDITY 2 - A couple is shown in bed (she's sleeping) with their bare
shoulders exposed. And a couple kisses in bed; he's shirtless and she is in a tank
T-shirt. There are a couple of other quick kisses. A woman puts her finger in a man's
mouth suggestively. Several women are seen in cleavage revealing evening gowns, and a
woman is briefly seen in her bra. We read an employee's personnel file which includes
details about her having been molested as a child by her father -- there are allusions to
the same subject in a conversation later.
VIOLENCE/GORE 5 - A brutal scene depicting the beating of a man to death (we
hear he dies after the beating) by baseball bat is shown several times, in varying detail:
once "live" (including the destruction of computers and other office equipment)
and the other times on video. A couple of thugs break some glass to get through a door,
then break down another door and threaten several people with guns. There's a chase
through a TV studio with stuff falling and breaking and people being knocked around. A man
breaks through a glass pane and knocks a man off his feet. A man is kicked in the face and
falls backward and down stairs. A man is shown during a life-threatening allergic
reaction; he's seen on a stretcher with tubes in his nose and evidently gasping for air;
an allergy test patch on his arm is also shown in close-up (swollen, blotchy, red marks).
A man scratches his arm with a fork until it bleeds. We see a montage of the faces of
young men and women with the words "programmer murdered" written in red across
them. A bomb explodes in a closet blowing off the door. A man yells angrily in a couple of
scenes; he also throws a book. A man drives recklessly and acts out of control with fear
and rage. There are a few tense scenes where a character is nearly caught while
trespassing. A couple is shown building a bomb on their kitchen table.
PROFANITY 5 - One F-word (uttered in a particularly boisterous manner), half
a dozen scatological terms, a handful of anatomical references, several racial slurs
(written and spoken), many insults, several religious vulgarities, and some milder
obscenities. [profanity glossary]
DISCUSSION TOPICS - Competition, predatory business practices, monopolies,
fascism, manipulation, murder, friendship, racism, hate crimes, trust, betrayal, and the
real world vs. the virtual world of bytes and bits.
MESSAGE - Anything is possible and everybody has a price. Human knowledge
belongs to the world.
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