The Net

Angela Bennett (Sandra Bullock) is having a bad day... well, a pretty lousy life actually. Isolated in her basement with a computer, a modem and numerous discarded pizza boxes Bennett is something of a social misfit. Her only friends are faceless; known only through the Internet and her mother is an Alzheimer's sufferer who no longer recognises her. These seemingly minor details prove to be costly when Bennett stumbles upon a data protection program designed to manipulate every system that unwittingly installs it. Suddenly finding herself an extremely wanted woman Bennett goes on the run but with someone progressively erasing all proof of her existence and her past acquaintances tending to have a less than healthy life expectancy she has no-one to turn to.

Director Irwin Winkler has created a tense techno-thriller made all the more timely by the ever-escalting presence of computer technology in modern society. Bullock is entrusted with carrying the weight of the movie and she equips herself admirably giving her character a tangible vulnerability while managing to steer clear of portraying Angela as a simpering victim. Add to the mix the ubiquitous British villan and enough chase sequences to make The Fugitive jealous and you have a highly charged film that will make you think twice before you next log on.

Caroline Smith