How others will see it. Sneakers is just entertaining enough and has just enough suspence to make it a passable diversion. Most people who begin to watch will finish it painlessly, but will be mildly disappointed in it.
How I felt about it. Most of the scenes don't quite add up. I am playing the movie again while writing this review. I look up, and the scene follows Redford's successful robbery of a bank that hired his team to test its security. He carries a suitcase full of cash into the room. The bank's board is lined up on one side of the table, mute and motionless, while Redford walks in, waves cash, and makes dramatic, sweeping pronouncements. This isn't how the meeting would go. There would be introductions, questions, and explanations. The scene is far too pat and perfunctory.
The most bogus scene comes at the end, when the NSA finally is to receive the much coveted box. But wait, each team member has his list of increasingly spurious demands. Dan Akroyd wants a Winnebago with extremely specific extras. The ill-fated River Phoenix wants the phone number of a mildly hot NSA agent, which leads to a suspenseful exchange of phone numbers while world security depends on the status of the box. Strathairn demands global peace and the brotherhood of man, or some such thing.
Of course, the NSA agents are armed, and can take this box at will. And, certainly, they won't follow up on these silly promises if Redford has removed the main chip. They're certain to know it's missing. Really, NSA agents aren't stupid, unless they're political appointees.
And neither is a geek worker at a high security building where the black box is held (but, apparently, not copied). The worker has an IQ of 180 (or at least he thinks he does) but is too clueless to detect a con when his computer date explicitly asks him to say the word 'passport.' I'm sure his desire to score with the classy brunette is high, but some common sense is in order.
The other geek genius, not counting madman Kingsley, is Gunter, a long-haired cryptologist who created the box of fantastic value, which sits in an unsecured building. Two lengthy scenes are built around a romance between the haircut-needy geek and his lover, a heavyset, middle-aged East European dominatrix. The writers apparently believe the latter character is hilarious, but not only is she a stereotype, she's not even mildly amusing.