Strange Days (Review)

strange_days_ver2It is an alternative 1999. Society is a little more dishevelled, a little less organised. Chaos doesn’t reign yet, but it’s lurking in the shadows and awaiting its chance. The murder of Jeriko One, a black rapper and social conscience for the poor and disenfranchised might just be leaving the door ajar. And with New Year’s Eve for the Y2K approaching, a seething mass of unpredictable humanity is encroaching and perhaps looking for a reason to cut loose.

The illicit thrill of the day is ‘playback’, personalised virtual reality which puts the user in the head of the person engaging in whatever activity takes their fancy. The event is often illegal or sexual and recorded by those committing the act, meaning the rush is real, but the initial activity is often damaging.

Lenny is an ex-cop plying a dubious trade, which means he has few friends. He is made even more lonely when his girlfriend Faith (Juliette Lewis) leaves him for the jealous and violent criminal Gant (Michael Korda). Lenny’s only reliable associates are his ex-partner Max (Tom Sizemore) and a driver and ‘go-fer’ named Mace (Angela Bassett), who is extremely loyal and protective of Lenny, and worries about his illegal activities and nefarious business associates.

Lenny (Ralph Fiennes) is a producer of playback, a facilitator and distributor for those wanting all the rush but none of the downside. Whatever your vice, whatever your fantasy, Lenny will get you what you need. On this day though, Lenny comes into possession of discs with content that no-one should want, where the material involves assault, rape and murder, meaning the ‘users’ of the playback feel all of the disgusting thoughts and feelings of the perpetrator of the crime. As Lenny puts his skills developed through his former career to use, he starts to wonder if the person making the tapes has a plan beyond being a violent scumbag.

There is a Rodney King type message that the film tries to introduce late in the film, but it is clumsy and takes the long road in arriving at a bland destination, while we await a knockout punch that never arrives.

Apart from her early action flick Point Break, director Kathryn Bigelow likes to make films that defy convention by blurring genre lines. Strange Days is no different, a gritty sci-fi thriller that is atmospheric and claustrophobic, with the high tech virtual reality subplot driving the action. Unfortunately though on this occasion the combining of genres doesn’t really add benefit, once you realise that you could easily replace the VR angle with any other form of evidence, it becomes less gripping.

Ultimately Strange Days could be any number of crime films, all boiling down to the same cliché; ‘keep key evidence away from bad guys before they find and kill you’, while it might look the part, it is a long way from being in the same breath as Blade Runner.

Final Rating – 6 / 10. Strange Days indeed, but hardly riveting ones.

About OGR

While I try to throw a joke or two into proceedings when I can all of the opinions presented in my reviews are genuine. I don't expect that all will agree with my thoughts at all times nor would it be any fun if you did, so don't be shy in telling me where you think I went wrong... and hopefully if you think I got it right for once. Don't be shy, half the fun is in the conversation after the movie.
This entry was posted in Film, Movie Reviews, The Grey Area. Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.