© William Ahearn 2006

David Cronenberg's films are an aquired taste. Either you get where he's going or you don't. For example, if a film about a subculture that is sexually aroused by car crashes turns you on, then you want to see "Crash" (1996). His recent "A History of Violence" (2005) is probably his most consistent and realized flick no matter how much it may have been inspired by Jacques Tourneur's "Out of the Past" (1947). I'm not really a big fan of Cronenberg but I always see his movies just to see what he's up to. Peter Greenaway and David Lynch fall into this same category.

In "eXistenZ," Cronenberg seems to be plowing similar ground to several other movies released at the same time ("The 13th Floor," "Dark City," "The Matrix"). It's the ageless stoner dorm room question of "what is real?" and "what is truth?"

In this flick, Cronenberg asks the question using a computer game that doesn't need a screen or a console. The gaming apparatus is inserted into your body via a bio-port. Effects that make skin crawl is where Cronenberg really shines and one of the cool toys of this film is a gun made out of bones to evade metal detectors. It shoots teeth.

Allegra Geller (Jennifer Jason Leigh) -- the designer of the game "eXistenZ" -- gets a tooth shot at her in an assassination attempt while she's focus-testing the game on volunteers. She survives but her gear is damaged. Taking Ted Pikul (Jude Law) with her as she escapes, the movie becomes a strange trip in to and out of various realities as she attempts to work out the bugs and not get killed while she's doing it.

Or is it just the game? If just one great designer was all that was needed to produce a game, Duke Nukem Forever would have been released ages ago. Maybe there is more going on here than what hits the screen.

While Jude Law never did much for me as an actor, Jennifer Jason Lee can be fascinating as an actress. She manages to find her way into some very interesting flicks. Check out "Miami Blues," "Single White Female," "Rush," "The Machinist," "The Jacket" and "Heart of Midnight," just for starters.

As a concept, bio-porting sure beats uploading people's minds into supercomputers. And the film has an interesting way of weaving in and out of various realities.

If you're a gamer or if "The 13th Floor" or "The Matrix" is up your alley, you want to see this flick.

 

Many thanks to Michael Day for the film.