On the thirteenth floor of a corporate tower, hi-tech visionary Douglas Hall (Craig Bierko) and his colleagues have opened the door to an amazing virtual world. But when the leader of their secret project (Armin Mueller-Stahl) is discovered dead, hall becomes the prime suspect in the investigation.
To clear his name, hall must cross the boundary into the simulated world he helped create - where he'll not only find the answer to this mystery, but confront the astonishing truth of his own existence.
Also starring Vincent D'Onofrio and Gretchen Mol.
Special Agent Matti
The Matrix with smaller stars, smaller budget and a smaller idea.
Taken on its own merits, however, The thirteenth floor is an interesting little sci-fi thriller that pokes its nose into a nice little bit of techno-spookiness. The world within a world idea is not particularly new but it is treated well enough in this film.
Craig Bierko does a good job portraying two completely different characters (I just thought that they did a good job in casting two very similar actors!), Armin Mueller-Stahl is... well... Armin (slightly strange, accented older male), Vincent D'Onofrio is weird and Gretchen Mol is sex on legs. None of these performances are going to win any awards, but they're not in the least bit offensive.
The thirteenth floor is an entertaining film that'll get you through the night no worries, just wait until it's a weekly hire so you get better value for money.
M (Medium level violence, medium level coarse language)
96 minutes (1:36 hours)
19 January 2000