Strange Days
A 20th Century Fox Production

Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett, Juliette Lewis, Tom Sizemore, Michael Wincott, Vincent D'Onofrio, Glenn Plummer
Category: Action/Adventure
Rating: R
Released: 1995
Available for rental.

Strange are the days in Los Angeles leading up to the Millenium New Year's Eve. Even stranger is this time as portrayed in Strange Days, a sci-fi murder mystery, action-adventure starring Ralph ("Rafe") Fiennes and Angela Basset. This is a futuristic tale of an ex-cop turned virtual reality pusher. Yes, futuristic - don't check your calendar. Only the reality he pushes isn't virtual at all.

Fiennes (Schindler's List, The English Patient) plays Lenny Nero, the world's biggest fan of reality clips - little CDs of memory. He's wired into other people's experiences. Whatever they see, hear, feel - he can give it to you. Put on the spider-like cap and you're good to go. But keep your eyes closed, or you'll see double. The thing about Lenny, though, you can't decide whether he's got it together or is just another junkie. Fiennes wavers between the two when faced with a string of gruesome murders, and the stringy hair helps - but he's just too fallen-angel-esque for this part.


Angela Bassett plays Lornette "Mace" Mason, a chauffeur who lets Lenny get to her. They are each other's only reliable ally. But Mace doesn't really rely on Lenny, she puts up with him. And she's never wired into Lenny's cheap thrill headgear, either.


Juliette Lewis plays Faith Justin, barely. Lewis' abilities in Strange Days are paper thin - not surprising, if you've ever seen her other films. Her character is Lenny's ex, a singer - also of questionable abilities. Tom Sizemore plays Max Peltier, a computer guru. Michael Wincott is bad guy Philo Gant, relying more on his deep, husky voice than anything else. And questionable cop Burden Steckler is played by Vincent D'Onofrio.

Strange Days was difficult to understand; it was about ten minutes before I figured out what was going on. They throw a lot at you in the beginning that does get explained - but not for a while. This movie would have worked better for me in 1995, when originally released and, when I could have imagined more this sort of technology being an everyday part of 1999. But now it IS 1999, and such widespread use of virtual reality is pure fantasy. It just doesn't click, or stand the test of time - however imaginative. And Strange Days overall leaves a lot of unanswered questions.

This film is rated R for language, violence, and sexuality. I only saw it once, but probably wouldn't give it another shot - even to answer those questions. I recall the heavy trailer campaign for Strange Days started a good six months before the premiere, but the movie came and went with little ado. If you like Ralph Fiennes or Angela Bassett, see it because you'll see a lot of them in two unique roles. If you have little patience with convoluted scripts or throwaway acting (apart from the two principals), on to the next screening.

Thumbs down (except for Fiennes and Bassett)!