The Matrix

The special effects in The Matrix, the futuristic science fiction-thriller, are worth the price of a ticket. The confusing story leaves a bit to be desired, but overall, this is a solid movie that is fun to watch.

Keanu Reeves stars as Thomas Anderson, who by day works as a computer software geek for a company, but by night is a hacker who goes by the moniker, "Neo."

It’s the night job that has Anderson being pursued by a trio of men in black, the Agents, headed by the creepy Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving), who is my perception of what a typical IRS agent looks like.

Also in pursuit of Anderson is Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss), who tracks him down to meet Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), leader of an underground group of cyberspace liberators. The Agents attempt to use Neo as the bait to capture Morpheus.

In a plot twist that left me and many others in the audience scratching our noggins in bewilderment, Morpheus leads Neo on a journey through a computer-generated universe that has a stranglehold on mankind. The universe is a veil of Virtual Reality; it’s not me writing this review or you reading it in the Wednesday paper. We are nothing more than an illusion, part of "The Matrix." What the heck! I was never very good at science or philosophy. One of my students will explain it all to me.

For all of the cyberspace mumbo jumbo, the movie runs about 20 minutes too long and disappointingly ends in a conventional hail of bullets.

Be advised that the movie’s R rating is well deserved for the gore and violence. One couple left with their two small children at around the 20 minute mark. They must have strayed into the wrong theater looking for Doug’s 1st Movie.