Subject: REVIEW: STRANGE DAYS

From: [email-masked] (Christopher Null)
Date: Mon, 9 Oct 1995 19:22:35 GMT

STRANGE DAYS
                      A film review by Christopher Null
                       Copyright 1995 Christopher Null

     I've never really given much thought to what the turn of the
millennium is going to bring.  Will it be a new beginning for society
and the world?  Or will it bring on the apocalypse foretold by
Revelations?

     STRANGE DAYS continuously plays these two possibilities off of
each other, and in L.A., on December 31, 1999, it seems either one is
equally likely.  Ralph Fiennes plays Lenny Nero, a bottom-feeder ex-cop
who peddles "clips," full-sensory pieces of memory from real people's
lives.  These clips are played on "the wire," a device which delivers
experiences directly into the brain.  The very illegal wire is also the
source of a whole slew of problems, including the murder of one Jeriko
One, a very influential rap star, and the subsequent stalking of Faith
(Juliette Lewis), Nero's ex-girlfriend, for whom he still pines.

     As it turns out, this Jeriko has been heralded as the next
Messiah, and the circumstances of his murder stand to cause riots of
unprecedented horror.  When a clip containing the identity of Jeriko's
killers falls into Nero's hands, it's anybody's guess who he can
trust.

     The greatest part of STRANGE DAYS is easily the first-person
photography that is used whenever a clip is played--so the audience
gets to see everything as if they're part of the action.  This is
remarkably effective, and as it gets more and more gruesome later in
the film, the technology's dangers are almost palpable.

     Fiennes is terrific, as is Angela Bassett, who plays his best
friend, Mace.  Nero's insecurity is truly refreshing in this day and
age of indestructible action heroes, and although his frequent
confessions to Mace wear thin after two or three of them, he still does
plenty with the role to make the character real:  he is selling bits of
people's lives but doesn't have one of his own.

     Sadly, STRANGE DAYS is no bed of roses.  Example: here's what I
learned about the future.  In 1999, playing really, really bad rap
music is almost enough to earn you sainthood.  In 1999, no one wears
much in the way of clothes, especially female rock singers.  In 1999,
the music pretty much sucks, too.  And everyone gets beat up.  A lot.
And no one seems to mind.

     While the film is intriguing all the way through, it never really
gels together.  Director Kathryn Bigelow does some admirable work, but
the result is a BLADE RUNNER meets CLOCKWORK ORANGE meets Rodney King,
and some strange hybrid results that makes STRANGE DAYS feel like two
movies playing at once.  It's a troubling problem that is fortunately
balanced by the style of the feature, but the end result is an
interesting little film that's just, well, "strange."

RATING:  ***

\-------------------------------\     
|*     Unquestionably awful     |     
|**    Sub-par on many levels   |     
|***   Average, hits and misses |     
|****  Good, memorable film     |     
|***** Perfection               |     
\-------------------------------\     

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