Virtuosity is a 1995 American science-fiction action film directed by Brett Leonard from a screenplay by Eric Bernt, and starring Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe and Kelly Lynch. The film follows a disgraced ex-cop (Washington) who must hunt down a virtual reality being (Crowe), composited from the personalities of multiple serial killers, who has gained sentience and escaped into the real world.
The film was released by Paramount Pictures on August 4, 1995. It received generally negative reviews, and grossed $37 million worldwide from a $30 million budget.
Production
After the success of The Lawnmower Man, director Brett Leonard received a number of virtual reality-based scripts as potential follow-ups, with Leonard rejecting them as they weren't very good and were overly reliant upon cybersex, which he didn't feel could sustain an entire movie. What attracted Leonard to the Virtuosity script was the fact it wasn't overly focused or reliant on virtual reality and would allow him to focus more on action elements and concepts of nanotechnology.
Principal photography for the film began on January 25, 1995. Parts of the film were filmed at the abandoned Hughes Aircraft plant in Los Angeles.
Music
The soundtrack was released on MCA imprint Radioactive Records and contained music from Peter Gabriel, The Heads, Tricky and Live, among others.
An album containing the complete score by Christopher Young was released on July 26, 2019, on Intrada Records. A promo CD had previously been released. Producer Gary Lucchesi hired Young after previously working with him on Jennifer 8. Much of Young's score is electronic-influenced while the last third of the film utilizes an orchestra.
Reception
Box office
The film grossed $24 million in the United States and Canada and $37 million worldwide.
Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote: "The presence of Washington lends the picture a much-needed dose of authenticity. But in the end Virtuosity is disconnected and uninvolving." Conversely, Roger Ebert gave the film a positive review. He gave it 3 out of 4 stars and wrote that the movie was "filled with bright ideas and fresh thinking" and "still finds surprises" despite a somewhat clichéd premise.
The film was nominated for Best Picture at the Sitges Film Festival, losing to Citizen X.
Novelization
In 1995, a novelization of the film by author Terry Bisson was published by Pocket.
See also
- American Gangster, 2007 film starring Washington and Crowe in switched antagonist/protagonist roles
- Simulated reality