 "Photo: Courtesy Photo")
Oh, that wily Matthew Broderick. He doesn't care too much for authority. He won't follow your "rules," man. If he wants to skip school and run around Chicago, he'll do it. If he wants to hack into to NORAD computers and almost cause World War III, he'll do it. He doesn't need your "permission." He's a rebel.
In his debut film, "War Games," Broderick plays a high school computer hacker named David. One day, he stumbles upon a secret government supercomputer. The computer, JOSHUA, has been programmed to simulate various war scenarios. It learns after every test, and tries to produce the best defense plan possible. Unfortunately, when Broderick tells it to play Global Thermonuclear War, the computer gets a little over-zealous. The simulation becomes reality, and the world teeters on the edge of a nuclear holocaust.
"War Games" is a kiddy-thriller. It's kind of like if Jim Henson hired Tom Clancy to work on a special anti-nuke episode of "The Muppet Show." It has moments of intense suspense, political commentary and cornball hokey-ness. It's a good movie for a left-wing activist babysitter. You could teach kids the futility of nuclear war, the threats of a technology dominated society, and why Matthew Broderick is just so gosh-darn adorable.
This is Broderick's first movie, and his acting shows it. He has two basic moods: excited and bashful. He's a hyper computer nerd with an "aw-shucks-ma'am" grin. This works well for most of the movie. However, in the beginning, he's presented as a slacker punk. He's just not convincing in that role. The female lead, Ally Sheedy as Jennifer, is more consistent. She's flirtatious and mildly conniving (and great eye candy).
The romance between David and Jennifer is frustrating. David repeatedly ignores Jennifer's advances. She's got a hankering for some nerd love and all he can think about is saving the world. Even at the end, when they're trapped on an island and facing global annihilation, David can't stop whining about how he never learned to swim. Then, when they finally do get a decent kiss, a helicopter drops in and interrupts them. The government is always spoiling the moment.
The rest of the cast is pretty much stock. There's the bulldog general, the neglectful parents, and the crazy scientist who has given up hope. They are mostly two-dimensional characters, but they do the job. One surprising character, however, shows up for a few minutes at the beginning. Jerry, played by John Spencer, is one of the men in charge of a nuclear missile silo. It's his job to punch in the launch codes, turn the key and push the button. But he's a stoner. The movie opens with him and his partner, Steve showing up late for work and talking about weed. Then, he freaks out when he's told to launch his missile. Spencer plays the role well. It never seems like a caricature.
However, this edge is mostly lost as the movie wears on. It returns briefly near the end, with John Wood's gleefully pessimistic scientist, Dr. Stephen Falken. This is the man who invented JOSHUA. He's not too concerned about the world ending. He cracks some great nihilistic one-liners when David tries to enlist his help.
JOSHUA, the computer, is an interesting character, too. It has been given some basic desires "like the need to play games" and the ability to learn. JOSHUA changes over the course of the movie just as much as any of the human characters. The plot is driven by JOSHUA's need to win at any game. The conflict is only resolved when it learns that some games can't be won. A mechanical bits and bytes computer would have given the movie a much grimmer tone.
"War Games" is a Man vs. Machine morality tale for children. But its message is not as simple as "people are good, computers are evil." While the government's reliance on computers is seriously criticized, in the end, it takes a computer to realize what people couldn't. As JOSHUA repeatedly flashes on the
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