The Thirteenth Floor

By RICHARD SCHICKEL

Here is a standard time-travel movie, tarted up with a lot of virtual-reality twaddle. Shuttling back and forth between the present and a distinctly low-rent version of Los Angeles in 1937, a techno-nerd (Craig Bierko) must consider the possibility that he murdered his mentor-boss (Armin Mueller-Stahl) and doesn't remember doing so. While he creates an agreeably menacing atmosphere, Rusnak never makes us care particularly about anyone. One finds oneself praying for a wowing special-effects sequence. Or anything else that would jolt this movie out of its inconsequence.

--By Richard Schickel