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Perfect
Stranger
(2007)
Perfect Stranger is a tawdry thriller
with a couple of A-list actors and a noted
director which can generously be described as risible.
After an exposé of a closeted gay senator (Gordon MacDonald)
is
squashed, journalist Rowena Price (Halle Berry) quits her job
in
protest. When her friend Grace (Nicki Aycox), who's having
an affair
with powerful, married ad-exec Harrison Hill (Bruce Willis),
is found
dead after threatening to go public with the affair, Rowena
and her computer
whiz associate Miles (Giovanni Ribisi) begin investigating
Grace's
death, with Rowena going undercover in Hill's company to gather
evidence against him.
James Foley directed the brilliant Glengarry Glen Ross in
1992, but
you wouldn't know it from watching this mess of a movie. As
is almost
always the case with a bad film, the problems start with the
writing.
Contributions by Jon Bokenkamp (Taking Lives)
and Todd Komarnicki
(Resistance) are as contrived and unbelievable
as you can get,
and some of the most ridiculous dialog heard
in a recent film and a story resolution that's absurd are nice
bonus prizes. Bokenkamp is only credited with the story, so
Komarnicki takes the larger share of the
blame. Foley has absolutely nothing to work with, and one suspects
that his biggest mistake here was signing on as director in
the first
place. It's a technically competent film with solid cinematography
by
Anastas Michos (Freedomland), but a technically competent
bad film is
still a bad film.
Willis comes off the best as the misogynistic Hill, oozing
sleaze and
menace at every opportunity without going over the top, followed
by
Ribisi as the obsessive and equally sleazy Miles. Berry never
once
makes us believe that her character is anything more than a
stock
figure, and it's hard to avoid laughing when she has to get
angry and
swear simply because it's so unconvincing. Nicki Aycox is believable
as Grace, the supposed friend whose manipulative nature finally
catches up to her, although it doesn't seem that way at first
because
only the revelations at the end provide the proper context
for
understanding the character. MacDonald is good in limited screen
time
as the closeted senator. CSI: Las Vegas' Gary Dourdan is solid
but
wasted in a small role as Rowena's two-timing ex.
There's an old adage that one should never talk to strangers.
In this
case, one shouldn't spend money on a Perfect Stranger.
-Danielle
Ní Dhighe
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All contents ©
2004-2009 Thoughtsonfilm.com |
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Director:
James
Foley
Writer: Todd
Komarnicki, Jon Bokenkamp
Starring: Halle
Berry, Bruce Willis, Giovanni Ribisi, Gordon MacDonald, Nicki Aycox
Distributor: Columbia
Pictures
Runtime: 109
min
Rating: R
Release Date: April
13, 2007
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