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Slrange days

Flick Review:
Strange Days
By Vince Yim

Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bisset, Juliette Lewis, Tom
Sizemore, Michael Wincott and Vincent d’Onofrio
Produced by James Cameron and Steven-Charles Jaffe
Directed by Kathryn Bigelow

Rated “Restricted” for a bunch of really fun family values
and other stuff that they’re not allowed to show on live pub-
lic television.

The date is December 30, 1999. It is two days be-
fore the rise of 2K: The year 2000. Street crimes and riot-
ing have run rampant. There is mass speculation about the
end of the world as told in the biblical book of Revelation.
The most popular form of entertainment has become the
purchasing of memories...and experiencing them through
the eyes of the memory’s owner.

Enter Lenny Nero. He was a NYPD cop, stripped
of his badge and is now a seller of memories. It’s not just
virtual reality. It’s not just like TV, only better. Not only
do the users experience the memories as if they are there,
they experience everything that comes with them. The
adrenaline rushes, the pleasure, the pain, and everything are
all included. The users can be anything they want. If they

want it, Lenny can provide it. He is the Santa Claus of the
subconscious.

Lenny makes a living off of other people’s: lives.
And then one day, he happens to stumble on to a very dis-
turbing recording of someone else’s experience, the rape
and murder of a prostitute, who also happened to be wear-
ing a memory recording device earlier in the film. She also
happened to witness and record the backstreet execution of
a prolific rap artist Jeriko One by police officers. After
promptly purging his stomach, Lenny then realizes that he
has to find the killer as well as get the evidence of the mur-
der to the authorities. Two slight problems, though. Ifthe
news media gets a hold of the tape of the excecution, riots
and hell will break loose. Also, people are trying to kill
Lenny and his associates.

Strange Days is the latest film from the mind of
writer/producer James Cameron (Aliens, Terminator 2, The
Abyss) and director Kathryn Bigelow (Point Break, Blue
Steel). Itis a futuristic tale that mixes the elements of films
such as Blade Runner, Lawnmower Man, Disclosure, and
Rising Sun, as well as introduce many more. The end result
is a spectacular film with enough plot twists to give average
murder mysteries a run for their money.

This film is an interesting change from many of other
James Cameron projects, as it is mostly reliant on plot and
characterization. Many of James Cameron’s previous
projects have very interesting story lines, but are for the
most part eye-candy. Although Strange Days does have
some very nice special effects and camera work (the in your
face six-minute long point of view squence comes to mind),
they do not over-power the film. Kathryn Bigelow does a
great job in piecing this film together by depicting a very

grim, dark future that may
behold us in only 4 short
years.

Many of the charac-
ters are well written and de-
picted by their players.
Ralph Fiennes does a decent
job of portraying the washed
up ex-cop Lenny Nero
(Schindler’s List). He has
several comic moments in
the film which add to his
character, but Angela Bassett
(What’s Love Got to Do
With It) does an excellent
portrayal of Mace, the
woman who must help
Lenny through the entire or-
deal, as well as (reluctantly)
drive Lenny around so he can
make his deals after his car
is reposessed. She seems to
be somewhat out of place,
but she does a wonderful per-

formance.

On the downside,
Juliette Lewis does a some-
times annoying performance
as Faith, Lenny’s girlfriend,
who he lost to the charms of
Jeriko One’s manager, Philo
(performed by arch-nemesis
of The Crow, Michael
Wincott). She seems to be a
more important character
than Mace, but the casting
director could have chosen
another actress with better
ability. She acts so nasty, it
makes us wonder what
Lenny ever saw in her, but
perhaps this is intentional.

One of the strong
points in the film is the also
soundtrack. Many artists
contributed to the music of
the film such as PJ Harvey
(she pens several songs that

are performed by Juliette
Lewis), Deep Forrest,
Leonard Cohen, and new
British punk band, Skunk
Anansie. In a similar fash-
ion to The Crow (which hap-
pens to be one of the best
film soundtracks ever com-
piled), the music enhances
the gritty, dark atmosphere
portrayed in the film.

On the whole, this
film is worth seeing. There
are some people who may
find this film unappealing
due to the often disturbing
nature of the film, but it is
presented in a very realistic
fashion.

Rating: 8.5/10

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