A Scientist at the Movies Reviews by Greg Paris

The Evaluation System Reviews by Title Reviews by Date

Reviews from Video Reviews of the Classics Personal Background

Title: The 13th Floor

Date Viewed: 5/30/99

Details:

Craig Bierko

Vincent D'Onofrio

Dennis Haysbert

Gretchen Mol

Armin Mueller-Stahl

Director: Josef Rusnak

Score: 0

The Review: Next in this year's collection of virtual reality movies, The 13th Floor follows on the heels of eXistenZ in more ways than just release chronology. The computational model is also very similar ("recursive subroutine"), with a few added twists and nuances. However, the user interface and presentation is different: rather than a multi-user multi-level game, this is a complete virtual reality reconstruction of Los Angeles of 1937, running in real time. Users download and assume both the role of the character in the simulation and control of the body. One can imagine that this sort of vicarious experience might be liable to misuse; one would be right.

The movie begins as one such user (Armin Mueller-Stahl) finishes his timed stay in the virtuality in somewhat of a panic, returns, and is subsequently violently murdered. Threading through the background is the murdered user's co-worker and protègè (an unshaven Craig Bierko) trying to understand both why he has a bloody shirt in the wastebasket and why the simulation has been threatened, a detective (Dennis Haysbert, very good in a role that should have been expanded) trying to solve the murder, and a mysterious daughter (Gretchen Mol) who appears out of nowhere, but nonetheless looks familiar. Deja vu is the theme of the day.

The 1930's L.A. "simulation" is shown as gritty and believable, and its color saturation is all that gives it away; I wonder also if this feature made it easier to film. But, computationally, the simulation is so complex, even as a plot device, that substantial suspension of disbelief is required to accept that the banks of computers located on the 13th floor are solely responsible. And the writers/creators need to learn about periodic boundary conditions ("question reality", says the posters; "question design", says I).

In the sense that traditional mysteries are puzzles, so is virtual reality a puzzle as a fiction form -- it takes time and attention to be able to grasp the consequences of the choice of model, user interface, and metaphor. And simply as a puzzle, The 13th Floor is worth some small degree of recommendation. But only that.

Back to the chronological list of reviews