`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 .
this film features good performances , impressive film-making technique and breath-taking crowd scenes .
director kathryn bigelow knows her stuff 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 .