Virtuosity * (1995, Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Kelly Lynch, Louise Fletcher, William Forsythe) – Classic Movie Review 12,319)

Despite the star power of Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Kelly Lynch, Louise Fletcher, the 1995 American science fiction action film Virtuosity, directed by Brett Leonard, is a disappointing let-down, muddled and stale feeling. Ironically, there is a lack of Virtuosity everywhere, from acting to writing to directing. Entertainingly, Russell Crowe is cast as a virtual reality entity called SID 6.7., who becomes a regenerating android.

To be fair, every now and again, there are signs of a better film in Eric Bernt’s simulated reality screenplay. Part of the trouble might be that Denzel Washington restructured much of the story and dialogue during filming, including removing a romantic subtext between his character Lieutenant Parker Barnes, who was imprisoned after killing a man who killed his family, and Kelly Lynch’s character Dr Madison Carter, a criminal psychologist who teams with Barnes to understand SID 6.7,’s behaviour.

Principal photography began on 25 January 1995, and the film was released in the US on 4 August 1995, grossing a disappointing $37 million worldwide on an estimated budget of $30 million.

Some filming took place at the abandoned Hughes Aircraft plant in Los Angeles.

Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe and Louise Fletcher are all Oscar winners.

Washington and Crowe also star in American Gangster (2007).

The cast are Denzel Washington as Lieutenant Parker Barnes, Russell Crowe as SID 6.7, Kelly Lynch as Dr Madison Carter, Stephen Spinella as Dr Darrel Lindenmeyer, William Forsythe as Chief Billy Cochran, Louise Fletcher as Commissioner Elizabeth Deane, William Fichtner as William Wallace, Costas Mandylor as John Donovan, Kevin J. O’Connor as Clyde Reilly, Kaley Cuoco as Madison’s daughter Karin Carter, Christopher Murray as Matthew Grimes, Mari Morrow as Linda Barnes, Johnny Kim as Lab Tech, Heidi Schanz as Sheila 3.2, Traci Lords as Media Zone singer, Gordon Jennison Noice as ‘Big Red’, and Michael Buffer as Emcee.

Louise Fletcher with her Oscar.

Estelle Louise Fletcher (July 22, 1934 – September 23, 2022) died at her home in Montdurausse, France, on 23 September 2022, aged 88.

Miloš Forman saw Fletcher in Robert Altman’s 1974 Thieves Like Us and cast her as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, becoming only the third actress to win an Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe Award for a single performance, after Audrey Hepburn and Liza Minnelli.

She followed Cuckoo’s Nest with Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Cheap Detective (1978), The Lady in Red (1979), The Magician of Lublin (1979), Brainstorm (1983), Firestarter (1984), Invaders From Mars (1986), Flowers in the Attic (1987), Two Moon Junction (1988), Best of the Best (1989), Blue Steel (1990), Virtuosity (1995), High School High (1996), and Cruel Intentions (1999).

© Derek Winnert 2022 Classic Movie Review 12,319

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