STRANGE DAYS
A film review by Will FitzHugh
Copyright 1996 Will FitzHugh
Strange Days (1995)
Squid Alert! Squid Alert! Kathryn Bigelow's new one comes out of the box like countless science fiction novels. Experiences can be recorded 'right from the cerebral cortex' and then played back to give the viewer the more or less complete experience (unless you open your eyes and get 'double vision'). Ralph Fiennes plays Lenny, a dealer in these taped lives. Hey, that was pretty good. I should write copy for promos, 'He's Lenny, a dealer in taped lives'. Brrrr.
What I meant to say is that I've following Kathryn Bigelow's career since the beginning. I was beginning to think she peaked with 'Near Dark', a movie about a Winnebago full of vampires. Things started to look grim after that. 'Blue Steel' was pathetic with Jamie Lee Curtis horribly miscast as a tough cop. 'Point Break' livened things up a bit and was actually pretty good for a movie starring Patrick 'Duh' Swayze and Keanu 'Huh' Reeves. She did a part of 'Wild Palms' and the Oliver Stone influence seems to have worn off a bit.
The recorded experiences, like the disastrous robbery that opens the movie, are jerky, kinetic and scary on the big screen (if you get real close, 19" diagonal is pretty big). Especially the one with Juliette Lewis rollerblading and coming on to me, I mean Lenny. It's the near future, see, and New Years Eve, 1999, finds the streets of L.A. full of gangstas, whores and big fat cars. More people than you'd expect wear wigs because that's how you hide the recording headgear (or 'squids'). Never trust anyone with fucked-up hair in this movie.
Oh, right, the plot. Actually, never mind. Suffice it to say that it gets a bit confusing but it looks good. Angela Bassett saves Lenny's scrawny ass more than once. Most of the action takes place in crowds at clubs, warehouses and parties. The world threatens to go down the tubes at the end and there's a handful of twisted psychopaths to pick from as Lenny tries to save his beloved Faith (symbolism, I guess). For this movie to come true the Rams have to move back to L.A., the LAPD have to remain violent and unstable, and black and white people have to refuse to live in peace and harmony for another five years. Um, 1 out of 3, is my guess. Would have been if 2 out of 3 if Bob Dole had become president.
will fitzhugh
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