Freedom Downtime (2001)

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Good movie but grossly overrated

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

I eagerly looked forward to seeing this supposed documentary, but to be quite frank, it was painful to sit through.I've long been aware of the Mitnick story and have also been a reader of 2600 for many years.That may in part account for my high expectations of this film.I actually felt sorry for EG as he showed up at the doors of company after company looking to talk to people about the Mitnick case (of course he never got talk to anyone because he put absolutely zero effort in planning any of these meetings whatsoever or even attempting to get a contact person to talk to).My thought as this progressed from the absurd to the comical was this: how high can you possibly be to drive literally across the country to wind up at a company like Sun Microsystems and show at the receptionist's desk hoping to speak to someone about the Mitnick story. Then, to stand out in the parking lot trying to get the main phone number for the company and actually be frustrated and amazed to get a voice mail system and not get to talk to anyone.At one point I was going to turn it off, but hope prevailed as the "film crew" continued to show up just about anywhere hoping to talk to anyone about anything in they might actually do that. The highlight of these "interviews" was letting a drunk guy hold a "Free Kevin" bumper sticker and ramble on why his wife left him because he had no money.As bad as this documentary was (and to call it one is an insult to the genre) it did bring to light the absurd way Mitnick was handled in prison - being put into solitary for months at a time. I suppose that's the one positive point to take from the film. (Mitnick is long since out of prison, by the way, and has a successful consulting firm and a book out last summer that is doing well. I have yet to read the book but probably will simply because I want to read him talk about his social engineering skills.) Hopefully the next time Mr. Goldstein embarks on a road trip to do interviews for a documentary he'll actually have more than a list of names. I'd recommend some crayons and paper so he'll have something a little more interesting to present to his viewers as he waits in reception areas for meetings that will never take place.

Freedom Downtime is basically a personal video record of the "Free Kevin" campaign to free notorious hacker Kevin Mitnick. It's not really about hacking at all and the comparisons to Michael Moore are only appropriate in that the filmmaker confronts those who have been deemed as bad guys. Other than that, Freedom Downtime shares nothing in common with Michael Moore films and is an interesting, albeit scary, look at the justice system in the USA.It should be an interesting film for anyone who remembers the "Free Kevin" campaign that was once so prevalent on the internet. It's full of that dry humor so appreciated by hacker culture, which adds a little hacker flavor to an otherwise serious subject. Those not familiar with Mitnick may not appreciate the film as much, but they'll still come away with an inside glimpse into serious problems with the justice system and the corporate media's willingness to ignore the truth when it wishes to do so. Of course, this won't come as a big surprise today, when trust in the corporate media is at an all-time low and people have turned to the internet as a result.

Freedom Downtime is an eloquent and thought provoking documentary about the disgusting abuse of power in the United States. Kevin Mitnik's life was destroyed by the "justice" system. This film documents the campaign to free him, and provides a fascinating insight into the hacker world. You will laugh, you will cry, you will want to take up arms against the state...

before i comment, i am not a hackerbefore i watched this film, i knew little about kevins case(s) other than the fact that he had been held for over 3 years without a trial. i was baffled by the way the court system treated him. the courts held kevin in SOLITARY CONFINEMENT for 8 months because they were afraid he was going to hack their phone system!!! how are you going to hack a phone with no hacking tools?! did they think he was going to make a device out of spoons and a napkin or something? so they put him in solitary with murderers, rapists, armed robbers, and other violent criminals. this man had evidence that he had viewed source code from novell and sun, and made a few free phone calls. the only reason he was put in solitary was because of the media's view on him.not only were kevin's countless beatdowns from the government a big wakeup call to how i think about the court system, the other testimonials from hackers in the film were very moving. namely the testimonial from "Bearnie S." who was imprisoned because he had a box of "crystals" that could allow him to make free phone calls. he was severely beaten in jail, and was denied health care for several hours, and in the hospital was denied ANY pain killers (even aspirin or tylenol) for 2 days after having surgery.think the court system relies on justice? wrong. the media, racism/classism, propaganda, money, and other political influences are what controls the courts now. if this is the tesimonial of only a few hackers, imagine what horrible things have been done to minorities, non-violent drug criminals, and so on. watch this film. you will be informed and entertained at the same time.