Questioning Reality Redux
Thirteenth Floor Isn't Quite Near the Top

If computers have contributed anything to the realm of philosophy, it is the easy-to-grasp metaphor of perceived reality versus a "virtual" reality. For many science fiction writers, the idea of a reality of our own making, indistinguishable from the real thing, has become fertile new ground for story ideas in the past twenty years. Even Hollywood has latched onto the idea, first with this spring's The Matrix, and now with the latest science fiction summer offering, The Thirteenth Floor.

Unlike its predecessor, The Thirteenth Floor boasts neither the action nor the special effects extravaganza offered by The Matrix. At heart, it's less a sci-fi movie and more of a mystery. When Hammond Fuller (Armin Mueller-Stahl) -- the head of a computer research project -- is killed, his second-in-command, Douglas Hall (Craig Bierko), comes under investigation. Hall has awakened to find a bloodied shirt in his hamper and a gap in his memory. He can't be certain that the allegations are not true.

The answer to Fuller's death and Hall's apparent framing may be in their computer project: a virtual reality simulation of Los Angeles in the 1930s. Venturing into the computer, Hall tries to piece together clues from Fuller's virtual identity in order to find the man's real killer.

To its merit, The Thirteenth Floor offers an interesting storyline along with some very enticing concepts of reality versus virtual reality. But this isn't hard science fiction. They don't try to explain the process by which the computer programmers enter into their virtual world. The science (and the science fiction) is merely a tool, just as virtual reality is merely a metaphor for a philosophical question about our own existence.

As a mystery, the movie is clunky. Dennis Haysbert plays detective Larry McBain whose Philip Marlowe demeanor would be more at home in the '30s simulation than in reality. Even though Hall is considered a suspect, McBain seems content to allow him to run around town tracking down the leads that he should be following. The whole scenario doesn't play well, even though it allows our hero to find clues to his own guilt or innocence.

While Bierko is wonderful as the dashing hero, his character is two-dimensional. Luckily, when he travels into the simulation, we are allowed to see Bierko perform an additional character, one that is a little more interesting than Hall. Vincent D'Onofrio plays Hall's partner, Whitney, who likewise has a counterpart in the simulation. As with Bierko, D'Onofrio's range is seen in how he plays the two characters differently. Gretchen Mol also appears, portraying a mysterious woman claiming to be the deceased Fuller's daughter.

Although The Thirteenth Floor does offer some surprises, it doesn't offer anything that hasn't been seen before in science fiction. This, and not anything else, is the real disappointment.

MY RATING: 7 out of 10.

RATED:
RUN TIME: 100 min.

Questioning Reality Redux Thirteenth Floor Isn't Quite Near the Top

Questioning Reality Redux
Thirteenth Floor Isn't Quite Near the Top