fter persuasively conjuring the futuristic city of noir dreams in “Blade Runner,” Ridley Scott turned his cinematic eye to putting make-up on real ones, with New York up first. “Someone” opens with a devotional hymn to the Chrysler Building (with Sting singing a haunting if too-polished version of the Ella Fitzgerald title classic).
What follows, sad to say, is a one-dimensional thriller. Blue collar cop (Tom Berenger) is entrusted to protect imperiled socialite (Mimi Rogers). Cop falls for socialite. Killer lurks in the New York dark. Cop-socialite sex fills the downtime. Scott stirs this up like a stylish drink and hopes bright lights will rescue him. They don’t.
Instead, there’s Lorraine Bracco, the cheating cop’s wife. Unlike the rest of the cast, she sweats, frets, shouts, and behaves in a way that despairingly human. Make no mistake: This is a very pretty film. But the blemish it conceals is a humdrum story.
