The Net (1995)

There’s three things you can’t have in order to properly enjoy The Net:  (1) a knowledge of computers and/or the internet, (2) a familiarity with the works of Alfred Hitchcock, and (3) an adequate use of your brain.  

This film stars Sandra Bullock (While You Were Sleeping, Love Potion No. 9) as Angela Bennett, a beta tester for various software programs who comes upon a computer disk which has a flaw that allows access into the top secret files in the mainframe of a defense computer or some such (It’s a MacGuffin as Hitch would call it, I don’t need to know what it does, only that it’s important and people want it.)  Of course mysterious people in high places want the disk and will do anything to get it including changing her identity and getting her in trouble with the law.  With nowhere to go and nowhere to hide, Bennett mustn’t clear her name so much as get her name back on her own.   

You’ve seen it all before, only better in North by Northwest and most recently in The Fugitive.  This is mediocre fare, with Bullock as the only saving grace.  The supporting cast is adequate as is the directing, but the film is muddled by faulty logic and routine thriller clichés.

— Followed by an in-name-only sequel in 2006, The Net 2.0

Qwipster’s rating: C

MPAA Rated: PG-13 for violence, some sexuality and brief strong language
Running Time: 114 min.

Cast: Sandra Bullock, Jeremy Northam, Dennis Miller, Diane Baker, Wendy Gazelle, Ken Howard
Director: Irwin Winkler
Screenplay: John Brancato, Michael Ferris