Sci-fi filmmakers are waxing philosophical as the millennium approaches. Who are we? What effects do we have on the universe? And more importantly, do we have any effect on the universe or are we simply the pawns of machines? The Thirteenth Floor ponders these questions, as have other recent film releases, such as The Matrix.
In his office on The Thirteenth Floor of a mirror-windowed tower, computer genius Hannon Fuller (Academy Award nominated Armin Mueller-Stahl) has created an alternate reality. Computer users can download themselves into 1937 Los Angeles, complete with speakeasies and dancing girls. The ’30’s residents live their lives as real people with real emotions when computer users aren’t inhabiting their bodies. The virtual creations don’t realize that they live computer-simulated lives.
While enmeshed in his alternate reality, Fuller discovers that something is desperately wrong. He leaves a clue in 1937, praying his friend and second in command, Douglas Hall (Craig Bierko), will find it.
The next morning, Hall discovers a bloody shirt in his bedroom. He learns Fuller has been murdered. Hall has no recollection of his previous night’s activities, but knows he wouldn’t have murdered his mentor. Complicating things, Fuller’s mysterious daughter, Jane (Gretchen Mol), appears, bent on closing down the company. This is puzzling since Fuller had never mentioned a daughter. As the evidence against Hall mounts, he must search the alternate reality to find the truth and prove he’s not a killer. Or is he?
The Thirteenth Floor offers a fascinating peek into the ’30’s and an unusual twist on the world’s future, but it lacks the slick special effects and tongue-in-cheek humor of The Matrix. This could be forgiven amidst a cast of deep characters, but the players in The Thirteenth Floor are underdeveloped. Also, the love story is virtually ignored in the first two-thirds of the movie. When Bierko and Mol do connect, it’s too fast.
Both Bierko and Mol give solid performances but without spark, maybe the fault of the screenwriters. Moll does look exactly like a 1930’s femme fatale. Mueller-Stahl plays an interesting aging computer mogul bent on sexual adventure, and in the alternate reality, a moral bookseller. Vincent D’Onofrio as a quirky programmer offers comic relief when his long-haired, T-shirted personality clashes with the understated ’30’s.
How the characters are thrust into alternate realities during action sequences is refreshing; D’Onofrio finds himself speeding down an unfamiliar road behind the wheel of a 1930’s automobile. The film also offers eye-catching cinematography: a blue-toned indoor pool struggle, a yellow-tinged future. Finally, the movie’s plot-twists are well set-up, but the ending is unrealistic. It’s a crowd pleaser, though.
The Thirteenth Floor offers a mediocre dose of sci-fi. If you’ve seen The Matrix and have a craving for more, you’ll be entertained, but not blown away. The movie is rated R for violence and language.
+ Kendeyl Johansen
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