Swordfish

In this straightforward, generic thriller a man is caught up in world that taps into an ability that previously landed him behind bars.

Stanley Jobson (Jackman) is one of the world's best computer hackers who broke in to a clandestine Government program setting its progress back for two years. As the film opens he is living a quiet life avoiding computers which is a condition of his parole. He is visited by a woman named Ginger Knowles (Berry) who hands him $100,000 and offers him more if he will continue where he left off. He agrees and soon meets Gabriel Shear (Travolta), a man who has amassed a tremendous personal fortune and who wants Jobson to create a worm that will drain a government fund that contains more than 9 billion dollars. He is offered 10 million and decides to take on the job.

Shear works for a program set up by J. Edgar Hoover in the 1950's that attacks those who attack the United States. He claims he is working to rid the world of terrorism and uses the money he steals for this end. He works with the current head of the organization, Senator James Reisman (Shephard) who eventually loses faith and tries to have Shear killed.

There is a tremendous amount of energy in this film as the action is propelled along with various stunts, explosions, and scenes of mayhem. It does manage to raise the adrenaline level a bit although in the end it doesn't do much more than that. The story is not particularly inventive and doesn't stand out from other similar thrillers that involve espionage and large sums of cold, hard cash. Still, Travolta is in fine form playing a character who cannot be easily categorized into a simple cinematic type. He's playing a thief and murderer but his overall objective is ostensibly to protect the freedoms of Americans from terrorist attacks. His actions are questionable but most people would say that his intentions are ultimately pure. He fights the bad guys and everyone in America reaps the benefits. So, he's either an anti-hero or a villain depending on how fanatically patriotic the viewer is. He kills a few but he saves a potential thousands if not more. It's the war on terror taken to its logical extreme. Hardliner paranoid types who see terrorists on every street corner probably love this film because it confirms their worst fears and allows them to identify with a man who is taking charge and doing something about the threat.

Jobson has lost custody of his young daughter Holly (Grimes) due to the fallout from his arrest. His former wife has taken out a restraining order on him so he cannot visit with his child. He is driven by a desire to be reunited with Holly and is given the chance to keep her when her mother is murdered.