Strange Days

Kathryn Bigelow is definitely different from other female directors working in Hollywood. How so? Simple, her filmography isn't flooded with chick flicks. Let's be honest, Near Dark, Point Break, Strange Days and The Hurt Locker don't really sound like chick flicks. But what do you expect from the ex-wife of James Cameron?

Former cop Lenny Nero (Ralph Fiennes) is a dealer of illegal memory-containing discs. He feels insecure after breaking up with his girlfriend Faith (Juliette Lewis), who has since moved on. He receives an anonymous disc featuring a horrific rape and murder of a prostitute he's acquainted with. Along with his friend Mace (Angela Bassett), he tries to uncover who would commit a crime this senseless.

Voyeurism on a much more disturbing scale. Some scenes felt like they were yanked from a Paul Verhoeven flick while others from a Michael Bay flick, but still there's hints of Bigelow's (ahem) "feminine" touch. A number of the scenes are like you don't want to watch but you can't help but watch. If you haven't heard of Strange Days, there's a good reason for why; it was released the same year as Braveheart, Dead Man Walking, Se7en and 12 Monkeys.

My Rating: ****1/2