Set in the year 1999 during the last days of the old millennium, the movie tells the story of Lenny Nero, an ex-cop who now deals with data-discs containing recorded memories and emotions. One day he receives a disc which contains the memories of a murderer killing a prostitute. Lenny investigates and is pulled deeper and deeper in a whirl of blackmail, murder and rape. Will he survive and solve the case?
Bigelow is so enamored of high-tech thrills, and so mesmerized by the violence she seeks to condemn, that her efforts at 11th-hour moralizing seem limp and halfhearted.
– Edward Guthmann,
San Francisco Chronicle,
1 Jan 2000
rotten:
Though the creators of Strange Days may well be interested in its dramatic and thematic elements, they do not have the same touch for these moments as they do for camera pyrotechnics.
– Kenneth Turan,
Los Angeles Times,
13 Feb 2001
fresh:
Undeniably thrilling and troubling.
– Peter Travers,
Rolling Stone,
12 May 2001
rotten:
Once the premise has lost its promise, and Fiennes's brave attempts at characterization are sacrificed to pseudo-dazzle, everything appears awfully humdrum and, yes, distinctly dated.
– Rick Groen,
Globe and Mail,
12 Apr 2002
fresh:
Director Kathryn Bigelow comes closer than any other filmmaker to turning movies into a virtual reality trip.