In the movie STRANGE DAYS, Ralph Fiennes plays a cop who has slipped down the evolutionary ladder and become a peddler of illegal virtual reality software which allows its user to experience another life through a neural interface known as a squid, which is worn on the head. In these realities you can be anything or anybody you want and it's through this interface that Ralph's character Lenny gets to revisit his own romantic past and along the way get embroiled in a conspiracy.

All the while the year 2000 approaches and as the clock counts down to the new millennium, mayhem visits the streets of Los Angeles, and the information that falls into Lenny's lap could make it all worse if it falls into the wrong hands.

Lenny though is a two-bit hustler and uses his fast talking to get around any problems he comes across. Luckily, when his smart talk deserts him, his best friend Mace is there to save his pathetic butt.

When we first meet her, Mace is driving a Limo and against her better judgement she lets Lenny come along as she goes to pick up her passenger. Its clear from the start that this Mace is all business, dressed in black with her hair in tight rows...there is no doubt she could snap Lenny in two if she wanted to. However, it is also clear that Lenny's smooth, fast-talking ways hold some kind of sway over Mace and she relents and regrets it as the story unfolds.

We find out that Mace can kick a lot of tail and in one great scene she proceeds to help Lenny out when he's getting his teeth smashed in by a group of heavies. As the lead thug pulls back her fist to knock out Lenny's teeth, Mace grabs it and knocks her on her butt.

And as Lenny nurses his bruises and the pair try to gather their wits for the next step in the story, we are given a flashback into the character and we find out why it is that such a strange pair are even remotely connected. A layer of Mace peels away and we see why she does what she does for Lenny and why he's an idiot for not figuring it out.

Towards the end Mace again proves to be the toughest character in the story and...well I don't want to spoil it...you should watch it.

Opinion is divided on this movie and I'm probably in the minority for enjoying it as much as I do. For some reason I caught it on late night television and have just been a huge fan ever since. The cast is filled with well known faces like Vincent D'Onofrio, Juliette Lewis and of course Ralph Fiennes and Angela Bassett. But I'm not here to talk about the movie per se but the character of Mace: loyal, loving, tough and beautiful it's a great mix and for all that she's one of my favourite characters in movies.

It's rare to have strong female characters that are also allowed to hold onto their femininity and its probably no surprise that the movie was directed by a woman - Kathryn Bigelow, who was also at one time an understudy of sorts to James Cameron...who incidentally co-wrote the screenplay for Strange Days and brought tough, complex female characters to the worlds of the Terminators and Aliens and of course the much underrated world of the Abyss. (Lets not talk about Titanic)

There's noone quite like Ellen Ripley but, for me, Mace is a strong second.