A math-illogical odyssey.

Rating: Null/10 (8 July 2003)

Essentially a psychological pot-boiler in which a severely deranged computer geek spirals into psychosis through his obsession over popular misconceptions of chaos theory. In a nutshell, the "real" theory attempts to explain symbolically how even such apparently chaotic processes as found in "fluid" turbulence seem, when studied retroactively, to produce vibrational qualities consistent with patterns resembling order. That is not the same thing as believing that chaos depends on order, or that order can be predicted given some formula that defines the process of chaos. For example, the "stock market" is one such process, for which the theory is in fact no more useful that the flipping of a coin.
Unfortunately, what the movie-going public understands about chaos theory is what it believes concerning eschatology, so it would seem reasonable if a compulsive number-cruncher could come up with a magical string of digits useful for predicting anything from stock market activity to the meaning and purpose of life. Mix into that brew a horse doctor's dose of mysticism, numerology, and that quagmire of pseudo-logic know as the kabbalah, and half-baked science gets muddled with "The Exorcist" to produce a plot that would otherwise seem laughable.
It's a "paranoid" plot. The guy is certifiably insane, addicted to drugs and hallucinating out of control. He has no apparent means of employment to support his addictions, or his Frankenstein's collection of computer circuitry, yet he is presented as some kind of recognized genius for whom both the kabbalistic dunderheads and the criminal element are striving for his secrets. Somehow, he has discovered a number that unlocks the mysteries of the universe, and that's what establishes the plot, because the audience also shares in wanting to know what that number is, whether it makes any sense or not.
As a representation of mathematics or serious theory, the story is no more profound than a pack of tarot cards. As a pot-boiler, however, exploiting popular misconceptions in the service of thrilling an audience for whom even the ouija board may be taken seriously, the "science" of the plot may seem highly convincing. For that reason it is not an "intelligent" film but a "pseudo" intelligent film, highly manipulative and promoting fraudulent assumptions about almost every concept imaginable.