Metascore
31 out of 100

Generally unfavorable - based on 29 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 29
  2. Negative: 15 out of 29
  1. Becomes a very conventional suspense film, replete with virtually every cliche of the genre, some used more than once.
  2. Reviewed by: Andy Seiler
    63
    Robbins' performance as Winston is the best thing in the movie.
  3. 60
    It's a kick to see the Tim Robbins version of the man recently described by the Microsoft trial judge as "Napoleonic" installed in a disgustingly opulent Bond-villain HQ/pad, and the overwrought Boiler Room-meets-The Game scenario is not without its own schlocky pleasures.
  4. It is ultimately more routine than provocative, despite the timeliness and seriousness of the issues it raises.
  5. I do wish Mr. Robbins's one-note co-stars had been worthy of his performance, and that some of the melodramatics hadn't been quite so slapdash.
  6. 58
    It's hooey, but it's hooey that picks up in the second half, not exactly redeeming itself but fitfully engaging.
  7. 50
    They might have been able to make a nice little thriller out of Antitrust if they'd kept one eye on the Goofy Meter.
  8. Taps into a fear hitherto unexplored by cinema: fear of Bill Gates.
  9. Reviewed by: Jay Carr
    50
    An example of a film that begins with a provocative idea and then runs itself into the ground with clumsy structuring.
  10. 50
    Ironically, the filmmakers seem to think the audience for this movie about super-smart people is super-dumb.
  11. While Robbins has a good time playing the boyish devil, the rest of the principals transmit on an awfully low baud rate.
  12. The plot of Antitrust is intricate and uneven, overloaded with twists and not very jolting surprises.
  13. Reviewed by: Joe Leydon
    50
    Robbins is such a live wire that he's able to jumpstart his co-stars whenever they're interfacing onscreen.
  14. An inferior factory product, cranked out with little care and less imagination, that seems all the dumber because it's pretending to be smart and topical.
  15. An unintentional high-tech hoot.
  16. Better than you might expect, if you didn't expect it to be any good.
  17. 30
    Poops out before it ever really gets going.
  18. 30
    As a film, it essentially bites.
  19. This compression of logic--coupled with two hours of ham-fisted delivery--guarantees that Antitrust won't jangle your nerves but will intermittently split your sides with laughter.
  20. It's phony and forced, but mostly it's just silly. If there was once a satirical edge to this thriller, it's been programmed right out.
  21. 20
    A storyline that makes less sense than the current state of tech stocks on the Nasdaq.
  22. Reviewed by: Ernest Hardy
    20
    A crap film that's steeped in liberal paranoia, but it's also so ludicrous that it falls under the guilty-pleasure category.
  23. Reviewed by: David Edelstein
    20
    Libel on one of the true visionaries of American business in the 20th century, a man unfairly demonized for doing what others strove to do but doing it faster and better.
  24. 10
    Antitrust is anti-fun, anti-wakefulness, and anti-interesting.
  25. 10
    Gives us good reason to believe that January really is the month Hollywood studios use to bury their cheesiest mistakes.
  26. It's too bad we don't have red, glowing DELETE buttons next to those soda cup holders. I could have done the world a favor.
  27. 0
    Monumentally silly thriller.
User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 19 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 13
  2. Negative: 3 out of 13
  1. Although the overall production isn't great and the movie is highly dated, the pacing is electric, the cast is game and there are enough twists and turns to keep you engaged. As well, the entire film moves at a thrilling pace that keeps it all entertaining. Overall, a worthwhile film that captures a quick moment in the history in the technological revolution. A sour note though - the portrayal of a Bill Gates like character in such a way is offside and insulting and harms the film. Full Review »
  2. A good idea with really good actors and actresses. Unfortunately, badly written. Conceptually it had the all the promise of an interesting and diverse plot but was held back by playing the safe road of dumbing it down to the lowest common denominator. Watchable but not highly entertaining. Full Review »
  3. AmurabiM.
    4
    For those who loved high-tech and the idea of a free-interchange-of-ideas-and-knowledge this could be the better film of the history. Bordering the limits between the libel and the propaganda, the provocative idea of a personal attack to bill gates and microsoft, doesn´t work totally. That attack coulda been work if the filmmakers get the wit to put that premise in a correct way of filmmaking. As a thriller, this movie is stupid and predictable, as a suspense is just the same. As a model of propaganda for liberals is just... right. But here, we are talking about films and nor about globaliphobia, so the film is just a piece of crap. Disappointingly, fails in to take a great issue (the freedom in the net) to the public and fails, miserably, in to make a decent film. Besides, we know that ryan phillippe doesn´t act and the Tim Robbins characterization of gates-the-evil is just... ridiculous. Full Review »