Masterminds (1997 film)

Masterminds is a 1997 comedy action film starring Patrick Stewart.^[1]

Plot synopsis

Oswald "Ozzie" Paxton (Vincent Kartheiser) initiates a highly illegal hack, and begins pirating a soon-to-be-released game, "Scream II". His download is interrupted when his younger stepsister enters his room without permission. The resulting squabble between them results in their respective parents intervening. In the process, Ozzie's father (a software expert himself) discovers the illicit download.

Forced to take his sister to school as punishment, Ozzie has run-ins with Principal Maloney, his former nemesis (she expelled him some time before, after he destroyed one of the classrooms) and security officer Rafe Bentley (Patrick Stewart). Having accomplished his assigned task, Ozzie stays behind to pull one last prank, but before he can get out of the school, Bentley's crew of "security guards" produce a variety of firearms and tranquiliser dart guns, which they use to subdue several staff members, then lock down the school. Ozzie's friend Richard (Jon Abrahams), also known as K-Dog, overhears the gunfire on Ozzie's walkie-talkie and rushes to the school.

It turns out that the hostages are all children of wealthy families, and Bentley has planned stages of a ransom scheme involving their parents' corporations, especially the one employing Ozzie's father, which dismissed him for embezzlement. Ozzie, re-entering the school via a long-disused-and-boarded-up room, attempts to alert his sister to the danger. She does not believe him, and he is subsequently chased by one of the gunmen. Using a bunsen burner and a vial of acid he is able to subdue his pursuer. He subsequently begins fighting back, first by setting the boiler to overheat the office, and then by activating the fire sprinklers. Both these tactics wreak havoc with Bentley's computerised security system.

Meanwhile, the police make several attempts to breach the school's perimeter, only to run into automatic gunfire, rocket launchers, and mines. Bentley is careful to not kill any of the police, but warns them that he will not continue to do so if the attacks continue. As a concession, he releases most of the children, but keeps the ten richest (and Ozzie's stepsister, having by this time found out about her relationship to him) and demands a very large ransom for their return, to be paid by the corporation that Ozzie's father works for. He also demands that the man who fired him deliver the ransom.

Ozzie locates ten of the eleven children and rescues them, with Maloney's assistance, but his sister has been taken by Bentley. He then places an improvised time bomb at the bottom of the school's indoor pool. He attempts to stop the ransom payment, but finds out too late that the man designated to deliver it was actually Bentley's confederate. Bentley ties Ozzie to a chair and leaves with his men, keeping Ozzie's sister as an insurance policy. They intend to escape through the sewer pipes using ATV's.

While Ozzie is struggling to free himself, the bomb explodes, flooding the school's lower levels and neutralising nearly everyone there; only Maloney, K-Dog (who entered via a sewer main), Bentley and Ozzie's sister are left standing. Ozzie and K-Dog seize an abandoned ATV and pursue Bentley. They rescue Ozzie's sister, but Bentley escapes with the ransom. However, Ozzie is able to blow the whistle on the man who delivered the money. Through his cell-phone, the police trace him to the CEO of a rival corporation, who masterminded the plot so that the money used for the bidding would be given to terrorists so he could win a bidding war against the corporation employing Ozzie's father.

Soon afterward, Bentley sees a light at the end of the tunnel, only to discover that the light leads only one place: a sewage reclamation plant. The money begins to sink as police cars come to arrest him.

Cast

• Patrick Stewart as Bentley
• Vincent Kartheiser as Oswald "Ozzie" Paxton
• Brenda Fricker as Principal Maloney
• Bradley Whitford as Miles (credited as Brad Whitford)
• Matt Craven as Jake
• Annabelle Gurwitch as Helen
• Jon Abrahams as K-Dog
• Katie Stuart as Melissa
• Michael MacRae as Deroy
• Callum Keith Rennie as Ollie
• Earl Pastko as Captain Jankel
• Jason Schombing as Marvin
• Michael David Simms as Colonel Duke
• David Paul Grove as Ferret
• Akiko Morison as Janet
• Teryl Rothery as Ms. Saunders
• Vanessa Morley as Gabby
• Douglas Arthurs as Happy Boy No. 1
• Philip Granger as Happy Boy No. 3 (as Phillip Granger)
• Andrew Kavadas as Happy Boy No. 4
• Lauro Chartrand as Happy Boy No. 5
• Charles Andre as Happy Boy No. 6
• Alan Van Sprang as Happy Boy No. 7
• Robert Smith as Happy Boy No. 13 (as Rob Smith)
• Nino Caratozzolo as Happy Boy No. 18
• Bruce Pinard as Happy Boy Guard
• April Telek as Sexy Girl
• Steve Makaj as SWAT Captain
• Jay Brazeau as Eliot
• Douglas Newell as Science Teacher
• Frank Cassini as Cop
• Pamela Martin as Reporter
• Marrett Green as Reporter
• Andrew Wheeler as Bank Officer
• Michael Benyaer as Taxi Driver

Uncredited

• Jim Byrnes as Larry Millard
• Tony Parsons as News Anchor
• Domenico Sansalone as Zachary Gates
• Kimberly Unger as Flight Attendant

Production

Filming

On site locations included Hatley Castle in Colwood, British Columbia, as well as locations in Victoria and Vancouver. While on-site filming took place in British Columbia, Canada, studio filming took place in Shepperton Studios in England.^[2]

Performance

In a release from Studio Briefing, Masterminds was listed as a box office flop for the Labor Day box office weekend, grossing only $1.8 million.^[3]

References

External links

• Masterminds at the Internet Movie Database