With SQUIB (Super Conducting Quantum Interface Device), we have a heightened version of virtual reality in which the wearer of the unit experiences pleasure or pain as if he were taking part in the scene he's witnessing. The images presented are from real life rather than simulated, and often create a visceral response in the participant, which is one of the reasons the technology has gone black market. The stuff Lenny Nero (Ralph Fiennes) deals in goes by the name of 'wire tripping', somewhat of a misnomer unless you consider the makeup of the headpiece worn by the user.
The film has a futuristic feel even now, though the way distant future of 1999 was only four years down the road from it's release date in 1995. I have a particular fondness for New Year's Eve 1999, because that was the last day I served in a job that I really came to dislike. I'd say hated but I enjoyed most of the people I worked with, so that's my only reservation. So I like to say that I began the New Year, new decade and new millennium self employed, though sticklers would point out that the new millennium didn't begin until the first of the year in 2001. But it's a moot point for most people and easy enough to get away with.
Juliette Lewis surprised me in this film, not so much in the portrayal of her character Faith, but in those night club sequences in which she sang. The trivia section for this film states that she did her own vocals, and if that's the case, I have to wonder why she didn't take up performing as an adjunct to her movie career. I thought she conveyed the raw emotion of Janis Joplin, who remains to this day as my favorite female singer. Maybe it was the setting and the way Lewis was captured on camera, but I thought she did a tremendous job.
The other surprise was Angela Basset in her role as Lornette 'Mace' Mason, limo driver and part time bodyguard for Lenny Nero. Her buff physique made her actions scenes look credible, though I didn't quite understand the fascination she held for Lenny as a romantic interest. Yeah, he was an ex-cop, but conducted his life pretty much as a sleazeball whereas she had a touch of class Lenny couldn't aspire to. But then again, it takes all kinds.
As for the story, it got rather cliched after a while, with events ratcheting up once the clip surfaced of the two corrupt cops (Vincent D'Onofrio, William Fichtner) murdering rapper Jeriko One (Glenn Plummer). The twist I was expecting didn't happen though. I was pretty sure that Commissioner Strickland (Josef Sommer) would turn out to be at the top of the bad guy food chain, but that wasn't the case. The inevitable ending for Lenny's 'best friend' Max (Tom Sizemore) wasn't one of your more original outcomes, but did prove once again the old adage that it's not the fall that kills you, but the sudden stop.
The film has a futuristic feel even now, though the way distant future of 1999 was only four years down the road from it's release date in 1995. I have a particular fondness for New Year's Eve 1999, because that was the last day I served in a job that I really came to dislike. I'd say hated but I enjoyed most of the people I worked with, so that's my only reservation. So I like to say that I began the New Year, new decade and new millennium self employed, though sticklers would point out that the new millennium didn't begin until the first of the year in 2001. But it's a moot point for most people and easy enough to get away with.
Juliette Lewis surprised me in this film, not so much in the portrayal of her character Faith, but in those night club sequences in which she sang. The trivia section for this film states that she did her own vocals, and if that's the case, I have to wonder why she didn't take up performing as an adjunct to her movie career. I thought she conveyed the raw emotion of Janis Joplin, who remains to this day as my favorite female singer. Maybe it was the setting and the way Lewis was captured on camera, but I thought she did a tremendous job.
The other surprise was Angela Basset in her role as Lornette 'Mace' Mason, limo driver and part time bodyguard for Lenny Nero. Her buff physique made her actions scenes look credible, though I didn't quite understand the fascination she held for Lenny as a romantic interest. Yeah, he was an ex-cop, but conducted his life pretty much as a sleazeball whereas she had a touch of class Lenny couldn't aspire to. But then again, it takes all kinds.
As for the story, it got rather cliched after a while, with events ratcheting up once the clip surfaced of the two corrupt cops (Vincent D'Onofrio, William Fichtner) murdering rapper Jeriko One (Glenn Plummer). The twist I was expecting didn't happen though. I was pretty sure that Commissioner Strickland (Josef Sommer) would turn out to be at the top of the bad guy food chain, but that wasn't the case. The inevitable ending for Lenny's 'best friend' Max (Tom Sizemore) wasn't one of your more original outcomes, but did prove once again the old adage that it's not the fall that kills you, but the sudden stop.