Virtuosity

Clear demonstration of where star power can carry a movie
"Virtuosity" is by no means a great movie. Simply put, it is a typical late-summer, action-thriller, popcorn flick. But, it's a case where the performance of the lead actors transcends the quality of the story. The story itself involves a cop named Parker Barnes who has fallen on hard times after being unable to stop his wife and daughter from being murdered and accidentally killing innocent civilians in pursuit of the man who committed the crime. His attempt at redemption comes at the hands a computer program that is the composite of profiles of several hundred serial killers and mass criminals (including the one who murdered Barnes' family) called Syd 6.7. Syd 6.7 somehow managed to break free of his computer-generated environment and is wrecking havoc on the general populace. Only Barnes seems to have the ability to defeat him. It's an interesting premise, but its execution is pedestrian at best. What keeps the movie afloat is the perfomances of Denzel Washington as Barnes...

Crowe steals the show
Russell Crowe is fantastic and steals the spotlight away from Denzel Washington who also does a fine job in this futuristic movie.

I will be the first to admit that the storyline is not the greatest but the entertainment value is excellent. Russell Crowe (Sid 6.7) is a computer generated bad guy who needs all the attention that he can find. The only man for the job is Denzel Washington who is sent on a mission to find and destroy Sid 6.7. That is a tough problem because Sid can rebuild himself similiar to the Terminator.

The more attention that Sid receives the more outrageous he becomes. Kelly Lynch also stars as Denzels partner.

DVD sound and picture is very good.

Better than most of the 1995 crop of cyber-spam
Virtuosity isn't a brilliant movie, but it is at least somewhat innovative and entertaining from end to end. More than can be said for similar fare like "Hackers" or "The Net." Denzel Washington, as always, is a very good actor, and Kelly Lynch is competent if flaky, but the movie is stolen by Russell Crowe's psychotic performance as Sid 6.7. His antics make Virtuosity worth watching, especially the Saturday Night Fever reference.

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