SILK ROAD

An intriguing story of 27-year-old Ross Ulbricht, the creator of the silk road website, which allowed its users to (illegally) purchase drugs over the internet and have them shipped directly to a buyer (think Amazon for illegal drugs). Ross was brilliant in his creation: using a browser such as Tor and bitcoin for currency to protect the site and it's users through encryption. However, Ross finds out the hard way that anonymity can work for or against you. The film opens with Ross, an intelligent young libertarian with a desire to change the world. The only problem, he doesn't have the faintest idea on how to accomplish that. Very much against big government, he soon gets the idea for the people to make their own choices and exercise their own freedoms. This leads to the creation of his website as part of a F U to government but also empowering the people at the same time. He bounces the idea off of his girlfriend Julia (Alexandra Shipp) and best friend Max (Daniel David Stewart). They both try to talk him out of it but Ross is determined this is his calling. After about the first 20-30 minutes, Max drops out of the story until much later on and we're left with Ross and Julia and their relationship as the site grows but also consumes Ross' entire life soon afterwards. A former drug addict and DEA agent, Rick Bowden (Jason Clarke) is demoted to cyber crimes after a recent suspension. A complete relic of the past, Rick is an old-school cop. Moved off of the streets as punishment and relegated to a desk job, he's 9 month away from retirement and nothing is expected from him. His new boss is 26-years-old and their relationship is rather cantankerous: Rick feeling his boss is too young and inexperienced, doing everything behind a keyboard without getting his hands dirty; while his boss feels Rick is outdated and the world has passed him up as police work has changed. Attempting to prove his boss wrong and to himself he can still be a valuable asset to the team, Rick struggles but embraces the underdog role in trying to crack this case. A formulaic story, with parts and clues that suddenly appear to drop into law enforcements laps to quicken the pace of the film, with no real performance standing out save for Nick Robinson who plays Ross and Paul Walter Hauser, who plays Ross' only employee. Hauser's levity is always welcomed in any film he's in but appears he's being typecast in that role. Not the greatest introduction to the story but perhaps there's a documentary out there that's more worthy of your time. 5.5/10