Echelon Conspiracy

Yet another pesky computer turns on its makers in Greg Marcks' Echelon Conspiracy, a sort of low-rent Eagle Eye that also mimics the old Hitchcock formula revolving around a regular guy inexplicably caught in a nefarious web of events. Shane West stars as Max Peterson, a firewall expert who winds up with a cell phone that sends him text messages offer a real promise of wealth. Before long, Shane is winning big bucks gambling thanks to his magic phone, but he soon catches the attention of a casino's security chief (Edward Burns) and an FBI man (Ving Rhames) working for an NSA head honcho (Martin Sheen). Eventually, all parties join forces to uncover how the cell phone's controller has apparently hacked into the gigantic U.S. surveillance computer called Echelon in order to use it for devious purposes. Serving up a final revelation that seems (given current political realities in Russia) ludicrously idealistic, Echelon Conspiracy is an implausible paranoid thriller featuring an unremarkable lead who won't remind anyone of Hitchcockian everymen Cary Grant or Jimmy Stewart. Not recommended. (F. Swietek)