Strange Days

Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, Strange Days follows Ralph Fiennes’ Lenny Nero as he finds himself caught up in a deadly conspiracy on the eve of the millennium. Filmmaker Bigelow, armed with a screenplay by James Cameron and Jay Cocks, delivers a progressively erratic endeavor that fares best within its novel and often electrifying first half, as the picture, which kicks off with an attention-grabbing opening sequence, boasts an appealing apocalyptic, science-fiction-friendly atmosphere that’s heightened by Matthew F. Leonetti’s stirring visuals and a commanding central performance by Fiennes – with, in terms of the latter, the actor’s completely captivating (and irresistibly lived-in) turn matched by engaging peripheral players like Michael Wincott, Juliette Lewis, Vincent D’Onofrio, and William Fichtner. It’s disappointing to discover, then, that Strange Days, saddled with a far-from-steamlined and palpably overlong runtime, segues into a midsection riddled with superfluous interludes and less-than-enthralling subplots, and there’s little doubt, as well, that the protracted third act, coupled with an incongruously political finale, prevents the picture from concluding on anything but a lackluster note – which, ultimately, cements the movie’s place as a strikingly ambitious yet thoroughly uneven endeavor that should’ve topped out at 90 minutes (or two hours at the absolute most).

**1/2 out of ****