Review of Strange Days (1995) by Ben L — 20 Apr 2015

Strange Days is a good idea gone wrong. It is the story of a violent future world (well, it's 1999) where a device has been developed that can record and playback different experiences simply by sticking a "squid" on your head. Lenny, a dealer in recorded experiences played by Ralph Fiennes, happens upon a recorded murder. In order to protect himself from being accused of the crime he decides he must figure out who committed the crime and why. The biggest problem with this film is that this is not the only plot in the movie. If they focused in on this storyline they could have had something special because it carried emotion (since Lenny knew the victim) and it kept the focus on the recorded memories which was the most unique part of the film. However there's this plot about the end of the world because it was about to become the year 2000, there's a whole gang killing that gets inserted in here, there's the failed relationship between Lenny and his girlfriend and his desire to win her back, there's even some dirty cops, not to mention the mounting tensions between the cops and the gangs that seemed to be moments from total anarchy. Even with a ridiculously long run-time they just couldn't handle that many storylines all jammed into one film. It was easily one of the most jumbled and confusing plots I've ever seen. It never made sense, and even after all the exposition at the end I'm not sure how it all connected together.

Ralph Fiennes is not bad as a guy who is roughly equivalent to a drug dealer. His look was just scruffy enough, and yet he had some heart so I could have rooted for him. I don't understand, however, why the protagonist in these films always has to be an ex-cop. This extra back story for Lenny was utterly pointless, and the only reason I can see for it existing in the script is as an excuse for how he is able to make such wild leaps of logic in order to keep the plot moving forward. Juliette Lewis plays Lenny's ex-girlfriend, and her performance is as horribly flat and bland as every other movie I've seen her in. Clearly she was only hired because she is relatively famous and was willing to be topless for half the movie. Tom Sizemore is not subtle enough in his performance as Lenny's friend. You can figure out the trajectory of his character's arc about 10 minutes into the film. Michael Wincott is a horrible villainous character, and I just can't stand listening to him talk. Sadly the good villainous actors are given the smallest roles, because Vincent D'Onofrio and William Fichtner barely speak for the entire run of the movie. Now if you know anything about Strange Days, then you might notice that there's one performance I didn't mention, and it is from the second-billed actor in the movie, so let's get to that...

Angela Bassett plays a limo-driving friend of Lenny's named "Mace." There are times in movies when you will find characters who I would call superfluous to the plot. Like Casey Affleck in Interstellar, these characters could be written out without hurting the plot in any way. However Angela Bassett's character is so shoehorned into the plot that removing her might actually make Strange Days better! First of all there are countless scenes where we have to repeat things we already know just to get Mace up to speed. It seems that at least one of the plotlines was manufactured strictly to give her something to do in the climax of the film. Her character lacks any depth, she is merely added muscle who scowls and rages at different characters throughout, and she continuously says one thing and then does something completely opposite. Now, before I wrap up I have to mention the one thing I did appreciate about Strange Days. Some of the cinematography, particularly in the first-person scenes was very inventive. They gave you a genuine feel for looking from a character's perspective, without shaking the camera around too much and making me nauseous. That is the one and only compliment I can pay to this film, otherwise it is a total travesty. And I could keep talking about it, after all this movie went on way too long so why shouldn't my review. In fact anyone who complains about the multiple endings in the Lord of the Rings should watch Strange Days, because I think it might have even more. Needless to say, I would tell anyone and everyone to absolutely avoid this disastrously bad film.