In theaters

ANTITRUST. Directed by Peter Howitt. Written by Howard Franklin. 115 minutes. PG-13.

The new Peter Howitt movie, “Antitrust,” stars Tim Robbins as Gary Winston, a bespectacled, boyish billionaire with a bad haircut who is so clearly meant to mirror Microsoft chairman Bill Gates, it’s surprising the film’s producers haven’t been sued for libel.

The film, from a screenplay by Howard Franklin, brazenly uploads its inspiration from Gates’ life. How brazenly? Considering that Winston’s antitrust lawsuit blatantly recalls Gates’ own antitrust lawsuit – and that Winston’s high-tech home draws specific details from Gates’ own home – the similarities between the two men are as obvious as Microsoft’s stronghold on the computer world.

This isn’t the first time Gates has taken a public pie in the face; in February 1998, he literally took one while visiting European Union officials in Brussels. But this time out, the results are sloppier and more embarrassing than anything he experienced while wiping cream from his eyes in Belgium.

The film follows Milo Hoffman (Ryan Philippe), a brilliant young computer geek recruited by Winston’s multi-zillion dollar company N.U.R.V. (“Never Underestimate Radical Vision”) to write the code for Synapse, Winston’s great global communications system that promises to “link every computer, television and radio in the world!”

But when Milo gets into the company and starts rooting around (think Tom Cruise in “The Firm”), it soon becomes clear that N.U.R.V. has had the nerve to murder a whole host of independent software developers. The reason for the slaughter? Apparently, Winston and his company haven’t had an original thought in years; in their desperate attempt to stay on top, they’ve killed these developers for their groundbreaking work.

“Antitrust” is a perfect example of what happens when a director and screenwriter don’t fully understand the world they’re trying to depict. Instead of offering audiences an insider’s view into an intriguing world, Howitt (“Sliding Doors”) and Franklin are only able to give audiences a sensational glimpse.

Worse, their film is bogged down with so many ridiculous touches – Hoffman’s “catastrophic allergy to sesame seeds,” which plays a hilarious role in the film’s denouement, and Winston’s childish manner of stuffing his face with potato chips until they literally fall out of his mouth – that even when the film tries to strike a serious tone, it’s impossible to take any of it seriously.

With Claire Forlani, Yee Yee Tso, Rachel Leigh Cook and Richard Roundtree in supporting roles, “Antitrust” feels like a cartoon. It’s supposed to be a thriller about brilliant people doing brilliant things, but with a story this thin – and a cast and characters this dull – the entire effort is about as exciting as DOS.

Grade: D

On video and DVD

THE KID. Directed by Jon Turteltaub. Written by Audrey Wells. 101 minutes. Rated PG.

Jon Turteltaub’s “The Kid” asks audiences to look hard at who they were as children and what they’ve become as adults. It wants to know how many of us have grown into our childhood ideals and realized our childhood dreams – and it’s betting the orphanage that many of us haven’t.

The film, which was marketed for children, is actually more appropriate for aging Boomers, a sentimental romp into one man’s midlife crisis that literally hauls out his damaged inner child and gives it an extended spanking.

The man at the center of the film’s emotional meltdown is Russ Duritz (Bruce Willis), an arrogant, super-rich L.A. image consultant whose cold, cynical ways make him a natural for his own image makeover. Rude and oh-so-proud of it, Russ is a smooth, swaggering piece of work who never won any crown for congeniality – but who, a week before his 40th birthday, is about to be forced to at least consider running for the title.

Somehow, Russ’ 8-year-old self, Rusty (Spencer Breslin), has zipped into the future and landed with a chubby thud on his doorstep. Russ, an immaculately groomed workaholic in fitted Armani suits, is certain he’s hallucinating, that this chatty, potbellied little nose-picker couldn’t possibly be him as a child.

Turning the tables nicely, director Turteltaub also takes the child’s point of view. As incredulous as Russ, Rusty can’t believe he’s turned into a “40-year-old loser who isn’t a pilot, who doesn’t have a family – and who doesn’t own a dog!”

Recalling a wealth of other films, especially “Big” and “Back to the Future,” “The Kid” is at its best when revisiting Russ’ past and examining the events that shaped him into the cold climber he is now.

Trying to alter those events is a timeworn cinematic device, so the good news here is that the film doesn’t rely on such an easy way out. It won’t be revealed here just how Russ changes his life, but it is satisfying to find that he has to do much of the work on his own.

With Lily Tomlin, Emily Mortimer and Jean Smart in strong supporting roles, “The Kid” once again finds Willis sharing the screen with a gifted child actor. Spencer Breslin didn’t receive the accolades Haley Joel Osment scored in “The Sixth Sense,” but he’s nearly as good, his comic timing as sharp and as honed as Willis’ own.

Grade: B+

Christopher Smith is the Bangor Daily News film critic. His reviews appear Mondays in Style and Thursdays in the scene.