This is the worst adaptation of a Vernor Vinge story I’ve ever seen on film. Did the filmmakers even READ the damn story? Taking a story set in the Singularified future and setting it back in the ’80s maybe could have worked, if they were trying to drive home the point that rapid technological change is already upon us, but for the most part, they didn’t even address that. A few shots of an antique cash register and an ancient credit card processing thing (the kind with carbon paper, where you have to roll it across) is about all we got on the tech front.

And the characters had nothing at all in common with the story, either. Apparently, the filmmakers are big Bill and Ted fans, because they ripped off Keanu for a completely unnecessary sideplot.

Overall, not really recommended for SF fans; stick with the written work instead of watching a movie which dumbs everything down into a generic high school comedy.