Strange Days (1995)

Strange Days has a very strange premise to it. Driven by James Cameron's powerful script, and Kathryn Bigelow's gut-wrenching direction, Strange Days is a movie that is very powerful and thought provoking. It also gives the viewer the point of view cameras they would wear to record certain events. They would include sex sessions, women taking showers, memories of loved ones, and so on. But, one clip, recorded by a prostitute, falls into the hands of a former cop turned disk dealer, played by Ralph Fiennes. And, then more twists and turns come our way when the prostitute is taken care of, and then we find out who killed her. And then from there, the clip actually becomes the most important item throughout the entire film. Strange Days is one of those movies that makes you ask questions about what's going on. Is Lenny going to survive? Is Mace going to help Lenny all throughout the film? What's on the clip? Why is the clip important? These questions make you ask so many good questions that you have to watch the movie more than once to get the answers. Is it worth watching the movie more than once. Hell, yeah.

Bombastic assault on the senses disguised as a "brainy" sci-fi action film. Set in 1999, the film follows former cop turned fast-talking street hustler Ralph Fiennes, who specializes in selling disks containing the memories and emotions of people, which is apparently the drug du jour. When he stumbles on a disk containing the murder of a prostitute, he becomes embroiled in a police conspiracy, rape, murder and assorted sordid elements in order to rescue former girlfriend Juliette Lewis from peril.The premise for the film sounds a lot better than the execution and there is enough promise implicit in the material to give one the idea of what may have been if it had a director who could fashion a coherent narrative and sympathetic characters. As it stands, it is impossible to tell which element of the film eviscerates it first, or whether it is a cooperative effort. The film employs an ear-shattering soundtrack, chronic noise and flashing lights, and assorted irritating visual flourishes apparently believing that everyone in the audience suffers from ADHD.The storyline is convoluted to say the least and director Kathryn Bigelow seems to be on only a nodding acquaintance with it. Bigelow, whose entire directorial output could conceivably have been directed by a testicle in the throes of puberty, simply does not exist in the same zip code as logic or common sense, and often sacrifices it for the next big bang, which is never as exciting as she apparently believes it to be. She seems uncomfortable directing women and thus the misogyny is laid on with a trowel. The female characters in the film are on hand only to strip, be raped, be beaten or murdered. Even Angela Bassett's tough chauffeur/bodyguard is subjected to a graphic beating, which tastelessly draws parallels to the Rodney King beating of the era.The acting is a real mixed bag. Tom Sizemore and Vincent D'Onofrio trot out their stale sleazeball routines for another go-round. Fiennes, who seems to be jacked up on too much caffeine, has rarely been this aggravating on screen. Bassett fares best despite being badly directed, but still cannot make the last act attraction between her and Fiennes even remotely plausible. And just when you think things cannot get worse, Lewis comes on screen with a teeth-grindingly wretched performance that could single-handedly derail far better films.Bigelow and company try to tie up the film's voluminous loose ends in an unsuccessful final orgy of violence and exposition, but your patience will have long vanished before then. Despite attempts by Bigelow groupies to rehabilitate the film's image (it was both a critical and box office bust at the time), it still remains a shallow, unwatchable mess with entire passages so unappealing that your first instinct is to take a very hot shower and scrub away anything that might linger from having experienced it.

It's the last days of 1999 in a violent Los Angeles. Lenny Nero (Ralph Fiennes) is an ex-cop who trades in clips of recorded memories. Superconducting Quantum Interference Device (SQUID) records the wearer's brain waves which can be played and experienced. The technology is illegal and he works in the black market. Meanwhile, call girl Iris (Brigitte Bako) barely escapes from policemen Burton Steckler (Vincent D'Onofrio) and Dwayne Engelman (William Fichtner). They discover that she was wearing a SQUID. She finds her friend Lenny's car and slips him a clip. Lenny still misses his ex Faith Justin (Juliette Lewis) who left him for music producer Philo Gant (Michael Wincott). Max Peltier (Tom Sizemore) is Lenny's brash scraggly lowlife friend. Mace (Angela Bassett) is his more put-together friend.Fiennes has great jittery sleaziness. I like the idea of this gritty near-future including its campy touches. James Cameron may have stuffed in too much story. The movie needs to cut out something and I would probably pick Faith. Iris can instead be Lenny's ex. It would elevate the intense need to find her. The rest could be a great revenge film. The movie is so full that it doesn't really need the extra twist. Kathryn Bigelow's direction is good although she may need more substance to throw at the screen. She needs a bit more special effects and a little less of the cheaper looking real world stuff. A desolate street is just as effective as one filled with people. It looks like she tried to stage multiple riots which ends up looking cheesy. The money could be better spent with a trashed abandoned bad side of the town. The story gets a bit too complex and some simplification would be helpful.

Have you ever wanted to experience life in someone else's shoes? Wanted to feel what they felt? See exactly what they say? See what another sees through his/her mind? Strange Days takes you closer to this than ever before, turning adrenaline junkies into full-fledged addicts. Brand new at the literal turn of the century this highly addictive and as of yet unattainable type of Virtual Reality takes over the city. One in which Adrenaline junkies get addicted to the high of living vicariously through the memories of other people. Dealers deal "hardware" and "clips". The story follows Nero, one such dealer. While there are difficulties with the plot this film forces us to live the reality of that which entertains us. Rather than inundating the audience with random acts of violence as simple entertainment, we are forced to recognize individual acts of violence as memories in people's real lives. We are able to see our own death through the eyes of our killer. This Virtual Reality experience highlights the sordid reality of what entertains us as people.