Sneakers is a 1992 American thriller film directed by Phil Alden Robinson, written by Robinson, Walter Parkes, and Lawrence Lasker, and starring Robert Redford, Dan Aykroyd, Ben Kingsley, Mary McDonnell, River Phoenix, Sidney Poitier, and David Strathairn; the film was released by Universal Pictures. Plot In 1969, students Martin Brice and Cosmo are computer hackers who use their skills to finance left wing organizations. When Martin leaves for a pizza, Cosmo gets arrested, forcing Martin to become a fugitive. In present-day San Francisco, Martin, now called Martin Bishop, heads a security specialists team undertaking penetration testing. The team includes Donald Crease, a former CIA officer and family man; Darren "Mother" Roskow, a conspiracy theorist and electronics technician; Carl Arbogast, a young hacking genius; and Irwin "Whistler" Emery, a blind phone phreak. After performing their services for a bank, Martin is approached by NSA officers Dick Gordon and Buddy Wallace. He is asked to recover a "black box" from mathematician Dr. Gunter Janek, developed under the name "Setec Astronomy" supposedly for the Russian government. Martin is hesitant but agrees when the agents reveal that they are aware of his true identity and offer to clear his past in exchange. With help from his former girlfriend, Liz, Martin and his team secure the box, which is disguised as a telephone answering machine. During their subsequent celebration party, Whistler, Mother, and Carl investigate the box, finding it capable of breaking the encryption of nearly every computer system. Martin works out that "Setec Astronomy" is an anagram of "too many secrets", and issues a lockdown until they can deliver the box the next day. Martin hands the box to Gordon and Wallace but barely escapes being killed by them after Crease discovers that Janek was killed the night before. His friend, Gregor in the Russian consulate, confirms that the officers were rogue agents and that Janek was working for the NSA. Before Gregor can elaborate further, fake FBI agents kill him and kidnap Martin, taking him to a remote location where he is reunited with Cosmo, who Martin thought had died in prison. While imprisoned, Cosmo developed ties with organized crime, who recognized his talents and later installed him as their money launderer and paymaster. Cosmo plans to use Janek's box to destabilize the world economy and offers Martin the chance to join him. Martin refuses, whereupon Cosmo uses the box to break into