Strange Days

views updated

Strange Days ★★★ 1995 (R)

It's 1999 in volatile L.A. and vice cop-turnedstreet-hustler Lenny Nero (Fiennes) is plying his SQUID trade—discs that offer the wearer the chance to experience any vice. The seedily likeable Lenny draws the line at peddling snuff clips until one capturing the murder of his friend, hooker Iris (Bako), shows up. Lenny's in way over his head and turns to self-sufficient security agent Mace (Bassett) to save him. The phenomenal Bassett heats up the screen (and kicks major butt) while the generally cerebral Fiennes shows why someone could care about his desperate lowlife. Bigelow's an action expert and struts on the film's dark visuals while offering some emotional impact with her society-on-theeve-of-destruction saga. 145m/C VHS, DVD . Kelly Hu, Michael Jace, Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett, Juliette Lewis, Tom Sizemore, Michael Wincott, Brigitte Bako, Vincent D'Onofrio, William Fichtner, Richard Edson, Glenn Plummer, Josef Sommer; D: Kathryn Bigelow; W: James Cameron, Jay Cocks; C: Matthew F. Leonetti; M: Graeme Revell.