a5c7b9f00b A former cop turned street-hustler accidentally uncovers a conspiracy in Los Angeles in 1999. In 1999, Los Angeles is racial war zone with the army and LSPD and SWAT officers fighting Afro-American people. The former cop Lenny Nero is a dealer of illegal recording in CDs that gives the memories and sensations of the recorder to the user. He buys the recordings from the supplier Tick; he misses his former mistress Faith, who was a hooker and now is a singer; his best friend is the private eye Max Peltier and the limousine driver Lornette &#39;Mace&#39; Mason, who has unrequited love for him. Two days before the turn of the century, the black rapper Jeriko One is murdered. The hooker Iris seeks Lenny out but there is an incident and they do not talk to each other. However she drops a recording into Lenny&#39;s car while he unsuccessfully tries to meet Faith at a night-club. However her boyfriend Philo Gant does not let them talk. When Lenny learns that Iris was sadistically raped and killed, he gets involved in a sick scheme and discovers dirty hidden secrets. Strange Days is not a very complicated movie. The story is not so twisted. But there are many messages in the movie. The topics of drugs, abuse of authority, racism, sexism, etc.. Subjects that are still a problem in our societies after the beginning of the second millennium. By writing a scenario that seems easy and automatic, James Cameron has been able to explore those topics and he made sure that everybody understands the importance of such topics in our postmodern society.<br/><br/>Now, the acting in this movie has been well done. A special mention to Ralph Fiennes, he plays his role very well. We can follow the psychologic evolution of his character. His facial expressions, the intensity.. We can live the story in the character of Lenny Nero. Angela Bassette and Juliette Lewis are both excellent in their acting. The actors seem very interested in their characters, which make them better and more confident.<br/><br/>It&#39;s a very good science fiction movie. I would say a surreallism movie. Since it represents what could happen in a close futur… Strange Days has a lot of things going for it. It uses a extremely interesting plot device: virtual realitybrainwaves, recorded from one person and experienced by another. It uses great set and costume design to portray New Year&#39;s Eve 1999 (back then five years into the not-so-distant future). It uses good actors, most notably Ralph Fiennes and Angela Bassett. And it has quite the encompassing story arc, encompassing cultural unrest, social justice, political accountability, moral obligations, and redemption. It&#39;s full of interesting and important ideas.<br/><br/>And it tacks them together with incoherence, over-the-top dialogue and acting, and an ending that goes on almost fifteen minutes too long. I own this movie, and at one time I thought it was an overlooked sci-fi cult classic, destined to be remembered in the years to come. When I watched it today, I thought that it was a waste of potential, a waste of talent, and a waste of my time. I&#39;m going to be very generous with my ranking, because it could have been so much better; the ranking reflects its wasted potential and its omnipresent style. 5/10
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