The Net



The Net is a 1995 techno-thriller film starring Sandra Bullock and directed by Irwin Winkler. Bullock plays Angela Bennett, an unassuming, nerdy computer analyst who works from home, helping her company debug games and other software. However, when her friend sends her a suspicious piece of software, she becomes embroiled in an intricate cyber-terrorist plot that puts her life and the lives of those around her in mortal danger. Bennett becomes a wanted fugitive when her identity is erased and replaced, her credit cards rendered null, her car stolen and her house sold without her knowledge. Bennett can only count on her former therapist, Dr Alan Champion, to protect her and ensure her mother, who suffers from Alzheimer's, is safe.

A Direct to Video sequel, The Net 2.0, was made in 2006.

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The film includes examples of the following:

 * Action Survivor: crosses over into Action Girl towards the end, but for the most part Angela is flung into the mayhem and caught unawares.
 * Big Brother Is Watching
 * Captain Ersatz: Jeff Gregg for Bill Gates.
 * Conspiracy Thriller
 * Corrupt Corporate Executive:
 * Career Killers:
 * Driven to Suicide: Undersecretary of Defense Michael Bergstrom, when told that he has AIDS.
 * Evil Brit: Devlin
 * Everything Is Online: Angela Bennett bemoans this point when talking to her provided attorney.
 * Extreme Graphical Representation: Actually not as gratituous as one might think, but the effects of a computer virus are shown as pixels slowly degenerating and floating away.
 * Fan Service: What else do you call Sandra Bullock in a black bikini, lounging on a beach?
 * She Knows Too Much
 * Hollywood Nerd: You know nerds have made the big-time when one is played by Sandra Bullock.
 * I Have Your Mother:.
 * It Amused Me: The temporary computer crashes experienced by Wall Street and LAX appear to have been caused by cyber pranksters who did it for the lulz.
 * It Works Better With Bullets: Angela removes the clip from Jack's gun. Despite holding it for several minutes while he talks to her, he fails to notice the weight difference and doesn't realize that it's empty until he tries to use it.
 * Loners Are Freaks: Angela Bennett's mostly solitary existence might have been a bit too solitary, to the point where her neighbour can't even vouch that she existed.
 * Make It Look Like an Accident: Devlin's ploy to steal Bennett's disk
 * Names to Run Away From Really Fast: Jack Devlin. The last name reminds you something not very good...
 * Nerds Are Sexy: Especially when played by Sandra Bullock and Jeremy Northam.
 * Non-Indicative Name: Dr Alan Champion..
 * Oh Crap: Most of Angela's reactions to various things, including her house being sold, her car being stolen, her fake criminal record and so on.
 * Plot Coupon: "Give us the disk and we'll give you your life back".
 * Pursued Protagonist: And how. She's constantly on the run.
 * Sinister Surveillance: Any and all closeups of a security camera panning slightly are an indication of something ominous.
 * Western Terrorists: The Praetorians
 * Xanatos Gambit:  engineered all the cyber attacks and made it seem like this was the work of pranksters, in order to get the US Government to