`strange days' chronicles the last two days of 1999 in los angeles . as the locals gear up for the new millenium , lenny nero ( ralph fiennes ) goes about his business of peddling erotic memory clips . he pines for his ex-girlfriend , faith ( juliette lewis ) , not noticing that another friend , mace ( angela bassett ) really cares for him . <POS> this film features good performances </POS> , <POS> impressive film-making technique and breath-taking crowd scenes </POS> . director kathryn bigelow <POS> knows her stuff </POS> and does not hesitate to use it . but as a whole , this is an unsatisfying movie . the problem is that the writers , james cameron and jay cocks , were too ambitious , aiming for a film with social relevance , thrills , and drama . not that ambitious film-making should be discouraged ; just that when it fails to achieve its goals , it fails badly and obviously . the film just ends up preachy , unexciting and uninvolving .
