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Review by Susan Granger
1 star out of 4
Since movies, on the average, take a year - from the
beginning of filming to theatrical debut - it's interesting that three
similar glitzy, high-tech, virtual reality thrillers - "The Matrix,"
"eXistenZ" and this - overlapped. Loosely based on Daniel Galouye's
'60s sci-fi novel "Simulacron 3," the idea revolves around a computer
that enables its user to time-travel. Only a story never develops from
the original concept of juxtaposing sepia-toned Los Angeles in 1937
with the full-color reality of the present time. Blame it on director
Josef Rusnak's and Ravel Centeno-Rodriguez' underwritten screenplay,
riddled with wooden dialogue. Computer visionary Armin Mueller-Stahl
is the first to download time-travel but he runs into foul play, which
brings his over-wrought assistant, Craig Bierko, to the rescue. Then,
when more trouble ensues, technie Vincent D'Onofrio goes back in time
too. All three encounter lovely femme fatale Gretchen Mol, who is
trying to pass herself off as Mueller-Stahl's daughter. Or is she a
check-out girl at a local grocery store? That's a question bothering
Dennis Haysbert, a detective. The visually stylish, art deco
atmosphere in the somber, cavernous simulated world is appealing but
it's not enough to sustain interest as the plot evaporates. Craig
Bierko seems like a poor man's Alex Baldwin, complete with a two-day
beard growth, while Gretchen Mol works hard at evoking Marilyn Monroe
but she's weak. Neither displays an ounce of screen charisma in this
ultimate bad trip. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, "The
Thirteenth Floor" is a self-destructing 3. Cyberspace confusion 3D
Existential poppycock.
Copyright © 2000 Susan Granger
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