Algorithm
- 2014
- 1h 31m
IMDb RATING
4.7/10
1.3K
YOUR RATING
A freelance computer hacker discovers a mysterious government computer program. He breaks into the program and is thrust into a revolution.A freelance computer hacker discovers a mysterious government computer program. He breaks into the program and is thrust into a revolution.A freelance computer hacker discovers a mysterious government computer program. He breaks into the program and is thrust into a revolution.
- Directors
- Writer
- Stars
Johnny Gilligan
- Friendly Guard
- (as John Gilligan)
Paulina Nguyen
- Bitchan
- (as Paulina Laurant)
- Directors
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured review
So, as others have pointed out, this is not a very good film. The concept is that a hacker in San Francisco stumbles upon a top secret tracking program built by defense industry contractors and it upends his life. It's not the worst idea for a film; as the Snowden leaks revealed, some of the conspiracy theories out there concerning big brother-ish government surveillance are a little less tinfoil hat than we used to think. But ultimately the film is weighed down by awful acting, stilted dialogue, and abundantly mediocre cinematography, to the point that watching the whole movie becomes more of an endurance test than a pleasurable experience.
The most notable thing about the movie is that the screenwriter took the time to research some coherent information about how hacking and related technologies work, although that said they still manage to get a large number of things wrong or only partially correct. So for instance they reference a security flaw present in many devices manufactured during a certain time range which, unfortunately, is all too real.But then the protagonist mentions that a mystery program was written in a proprietary programming language, which is possible, but very unlikely for quite a few reasons not worth going into here. And then the most important hack is completed by obtaining the username and password of the head of a government agency from just some guy he knows. I can't even begin to tell you how many layers of wrong that is.
But movies rarely get the technical details right, so all of those issues could probably be overlooked if they enabled an interesting story. Unfortunately, they don't. The acting is just so, so bad. And the ever present monotone voice narration is incredibly overused as a lazy exposition tool. Finally, the visual appeal is zero. Every scene feels like it was shot in someone's apartment building under harsh fluorescent lights.
The bottom line is that this just isn't a good movie and I wouldn't recommend wasting your time or money on it.
The most notable thing about the movie is that the screenwriter took the time to research some coherent information about how hacking and related technologies work, although that said they still manage to get a large number of things wrong or only partially correct. So for instance they reference a security flaw present in many devices manufactured during a certain time range which, unfortunately, is all too real.But then the protagonist mentions that a mystery program was written in a proprietary programming language, which is possible, but very unlikely for quite a few reasons not worth going into here. And then the most important hack is completed by obtaining the username and password of the head of a government agency from just some guy he knows. I can't even begin to tell you how many layers of wrong that is.
But movies rarely get the technical details right, so all of those issues could probably be overlooked if they enabled an interesting story. Unfortunately, they don't. The acting is just so, so bad. And the ever present monotone voice narration is incredibly overused as a lazy exposition tool. Finally, the visual appeal is zero. Every scene feels like it was shot in someone's apartment building under harsh fluorescent lights.
The bottom line is that this just isn't a good movie and I wouldn't recommend wasting your time or money on it.
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn the scene where the prison officers are looking at security footage, one mentions "enhancing" the image. The other officer states that he can't add resolution. This is a reference to futuristic police TV shows and movies where they can "zoom in" and "enhance" an image.
- Goofsat 1:12:00 While Will is waiting to get Hash out of the DHS facility (with the DHS Receptionist) it's daytime, at the same time the 2 agents getting from their office to the interrogation place it's night time. In both scenes there are windows facing out, clearly showing the time of day.
- Quotes
Decimate: I don't go dates. I don't go clubbing. I don't care about celebrity hookups or which sports teams just won. My universe exists entirely within computers.
Decimate: The moment we come up with a way to not have to eat, or sleep or any of the other things required to stay alive... I'll be the first in line.
- Crazy creditsWhen the agents in the prison facility reviews the CCTV recordings after the escape, the left big screen shows a menu of computer games from the movie WarGames.
- ConnectionsReferences WarGames (1983)
- How long is Algorithm?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Runtime1 hour 31 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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