Perfect Stranger Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES
How Far Would You Go To Keep A Secret?
Rowena Price is a muckraking reporter for a New York paper. When her story about a closeted gay Senator who preaches family values is spiked, she quits and soon finds herself investigating the grisly murder of a childhood friend. Her friend had been dumped by ad exec Harrison Hill, so he's Rowena's prime suspect. Rowena gets a job at the ad agency as a temp, and she's soon the object of Hill's attentions. She's helped in her subterfuge by Miles Haley, a friend at the paper who has a secret thing for her. Everyone, it seems, has secrets, including Hill, who must keep his affairs from his wife - her money fuels his lifestyle. Murder will out?
| Halle Berry | Rowena |
| Bruce Willis | Harrison Hill |
| Giovanni Ribisi | Miles |
| Richard Portnow | Narron |
| Gary Dourdan | Cameron |
| Florencia Lozano | Lieutenant Tejada |
| Nicki Lynn Aycox | Grace |
| Kathleen Chalfant | Elizabeth Clayton |
| Gordon MacDonald | Senator Sachs |
| Daniella Van Graas | Josie |
| Paula Miranda | Mia Hill |
| Patti D'Arbanville | Esmeralda |
| Clea Lewis | Gina |
| Tamara Feldman | Bethany |
| Gerry Becker | Jon Kirshenbaum |
| James Foley |
5.40 out of 10 (9142 votes)
Visitor Reviews
Poorly executed and LAME.
posted on 24 Aug 2009My girlfriend wanted me to watch this movie with her. From the reviews of this movie, I knew before hand what I was about to get myself into, which was wasted time. I didn't want to hurt her feelings by not watching this with her. So I let Perfect Stranger speak for itself.Now let me say that this movie is overall pretty weak in most aspects. The acting is somewhat sub par and didn't make sense in certain sequences. The perverse Giovanni Ribisi was probably the only complex character that had any memorable performance, other than that it was sheer unemotional script. Bruce Willis seemed disinterested in his role and probably known he was bound for better roles than this. As for Halle Berry, this ranks in the bottom with Catwoman as far as performance. Any attempt of suspense was dumbed down by Halle Berry's character trying to seduce the corporate tycoon played by Bruce Willis. Givoanni Ribisi's secret obsession with Halle Berry was just nonsense, and yet another distraction to the story. As for the synopsis of the whole plot, the script and direction made it so obvious that the philandering Bruce Willis wasn't the killer. That fact was slammed into my face repeatedly throughout this waste of time. The disappointing ending is not only awful, it makes the mystery of this movie about who killed Halle Berry's friend absolutely irrelevant. It's not that it destroyed any greatness of this movie anyway, because there wasn't anything in this movie to like. This is without a doubt one of the most poorly executed story lines I have ever seen. Overall, I can't recommend this movie. Watch Usual Suspects instead to know what a good mystery movie is.
Surprising ending!!! But a not so good START or a MIDDLE….
posted on 22 Aug 2009Surprising ending!!! But a not so good START or a MIDDLE….In this age of time where all the suspense CHORDS have been touched, I don't think there is anything else left for SUSPENSE genres these days……. BUT HEY this movie is UNPREDICTABLE… Well Predtictable in a way BUT still u need reasoning too RIGHT??Anyways this movie could have been a lot better if the screenplay was good. Even the story doesnot FLOW well At all. This movie does get BORING and seems to be Go ON and ON!!Well acting wise we know Halley Berry is a GOOD actress doing BAD movies. But I don't think she deserves a RAZZIE again.. NOR did she deserve it for CATWOMAN-which I found AVERAVGE not that Awful as People were claiming it to be.Anyways Bruce is a COMPLETE waste.The Supporting actor is a GOOD actor.. he doesnot have looks that is the reason why he is still a struggling actor… I hope things go well for him as it went for Philippe Seymour Hoffman.Don't watch this movie with OVERLY high Expectations.. Watch it with an OPEN mind and Patience… CUZ hey I have seen more boring films than this….actually a lot many boring films….So what I am trying to say is that this movie is not the worst PIC ever… Actually it might fare well at your DVD player… 6/10
I don't know why the movie was even released.
posted on 10 Aug 2009The only reason i can see for this movie to be released is because celebrities are in it. But, Halle Berry over-acts a choppy and shallowly developed character. I spent the whole movie waiting for the plot to really get going, but instead what i got was a whole bunch of disconnected plot points and irrelevant characters. It is supposed to be suspenseful, but mostly i just wanted it to be over. When the end came, yes, it was a surprise, but by that time I did not care about the story at all. And it was only "surprising" because the whole story is random events all loosely, very loosely connected to the end. It was almost...amateur. The story does not give enough background on most characters to evoke sympathy, emotion, or interest...ESPECIALLY Willis' character. It's a movie that is good in theory, but wasn't focused enough to be held in the same esteem as other psychological thrillers. The most developed and well acted character is really Ribisi's. His performance is noteworthy and enough to warrant the 3 out of 10.
THE perfect reason why CRITICS are useless. What do they want?
posted on 10 Aug 2009We start all of our reviews with the following information. My wife and I have seen nearly 100 movies per year for the past 15 years. Recently, we were honored by receiving lifetime movie passes to any movie any time at no cost! So we can see whatever we want whenever we want. The point of this is that CRITICS count for ZERO. Your local critics or the national critics like Ebert are really no different than you or me. The only difference is that they get to write about the movie and are forced to see hundreds of movies whether they want to or not.Therefore, it is our belief that if you get your monies worth for two hours of enjoyment that is good enough for us! We NEVER EVER listen or read the critics. We only care about our friends and those who we know like the same things as us. Well enough about that.This movie is the exact reason why Critics are useless. We do not care about critics, we only care about our own views and those of REAL people that we can trust.What more could you want from a movie then this one. It was simply great. I will bet that not anyone out there saw through the ending as it unfolded. Halle Berry and Bruce Willis were wonderful and we got our monies worth with two hours of entertainment.Too hell with the critics. Don't miss it. It is quite enjoyable.
"Imperfect" would be more like it
posted on 08 Aug 2009At this point in her career, Halle Berry should probably give some serious consideration to firing her agent. "Perfect Stranger" is just the latest in a long line of inferior films in which the actress has appeared since winning the Oscar a few years back for "Monster's Ball." Berry plays Rowena Price, an investigative reporter who goes undercover as a temp at an ad agency after a childhood friend of hers turns up dead in the Hudson River. It appears that the friend had just broken up with the married CEO of the company (Bruce Willis) and was on the verge of exposing his wrongdoing to the public."Perfect Stranger" is an unimaginative, plodding thriller that believes it can redeem itself in its closing stages with one of those "surprise" - but actually utterly implausible - whipsaw endings that have become all the rage these days. It doesn't work - and, in fact, all we feel is resentful, manhandled and cheated because we sense that the filmmakers have not been playing fair with us or abiding by the very same rules of logic that they themselves have laid down for us to follow.Berry may be one of the great beauties of modern cinema, but her acting, in this movie at least, leaves much to be desired. Her shallow reactions and atonal reading of lines suggest that she needs to either hit some serious acting classes again or, at the very least, find roles that will challenge her to go beyond the surface in her performances. Willis is his usual sturdy self, though the screenplay doesn't really give him all that much to do, while Giovanni Ribisi, as Rowena's fellow reporter, gets to perform most of the heavy lifting in the acting department."Perfect Stranger" is yet another disposable and instantly forgettable addition to the increasingly unimpressive oeuvre of Miss Halle Berry.
Just another twist movie with an uncreative storyline
posted on 04 Aug 2009I watched Perfect Stranger at a preview at my local theater this past weekend, and next to the scantily clad Halle Berry, there was no reason to go watch this movie. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with movies with twists, but as long as they're done with thought, taste, and creativity. The problem in this movie is writers have all the freedom in the world to guide a viewer's mind and place where the twists lie. It is too easy for writers to trick the audience, and to some audience members, the simple trick in itself is good enough to make the movie "great." Well, this doesn't cut it for me. I want a movie that connects, makes me think, has me connect with a character, or even teaches me something. Perfect Stranger lacked meaning, taste, and creativity and is just another one of those "movies with a twist." FYI: The movie was a long advertisement with way too much product placement. Even if the movie does bomb, the movie industry would have made up for the loss with the amount of advertising they put in the movie.
Mediocre start and finish, fair middle
posted on 11 Jul 2009Before seeing "Perfect Stranger", I was hoping for another hidden gem like "Twisted" (2004), which was also a murder mystery with a female lead and other big names in the cast and also got bad reviews; sadly, this film isn't it.The film starts off poorly - it's a whodunit, but the victim is a character who appears in just one scene before getting bumped off, so we don't have enough time to like or even hate (as it usually happens in, say, the Agatha Christie mysteries) her; so it's harder to find a reason to care who killed her. The film improves somewhat in the middle, with a couple of tense scenes (like the one in the car with Willis suspecting Berry of being a spy, or Berry's entrance into Ribisi's "secret room"), and a few interesting (if brief) views of the net-chatting world. But then the ending comes, and it's a cheat - the perfect planning required for it is simply too far-fetched (IMDB trivia says they filmed three alternative endings with three alternative killers: the one chosen in the final cut was probably the worst).Halle Berry is GORGEOUS in this movie - I personally think this woman is getting more beautiful every year - but her acting is a bit forced, especially at her "big" moments. Bruce Willis has a couple of good scenes, but the rest of the time he pretty much sleepwalks through his role. Another problem is that both their characters are not very interesting, and yet another one is that there is no erotic heat between them, because Bruce is too old for Halle - although their age difference is only 11 years, he would even be more acceptable as her father than as her lover! In a supporting role, Giovani Ribisi is marginally more interesting than the two leads.All in all, this movie is between a 4 and a 5 out of 10, mostly rental material.
Spoilers: Another Dim Democratic Diatribe
posted on 27 Jun 2009Another sad excuse for a political attack disguised as a "suspense" movie as an opportunity to accuse the Republicans of being hypocrites and (yawn)...you know the rest. Pssst....You see, all those big, bad rich men have this terrible conspiracy to keep themselves in (yawn)...Well, you know the rest...The thing that makes me laugh about these thinly veiled 2-hour political ads is that while Democrats say "W" is an idiot, they simultaneously accuse him and his ilk of being political geniuses, power brokers, etc. who, apparently, outwitted THEM (or they would be in power). LOL. The result is that their broad brush splatters the attackers instead with what looks surprisingly like dog doo (and which, appropriately enough, pretty much sums up this film).
Totally agree with author ste nay
posted on 27 Jun 2009At best this comes across as a quickly pieced together low to medium budget flick playing upon the celebrity names of Willis, Ribisi and Berry. If it had been a book.... I would have tossed it after the first 3 or 4 chapters. In that it is a movie @ 2/3 of the way through it I started to do sits up while at the same time hoping it would end. Somewhat surprising is that Willis would sign on to this..although no actor can know how the finished product will turn out. There were at times (in my imind) that it seemed as the lines were ad=-libed...eg; when Willis' characther flubs the speech at the Vict. Secrets party. Many instances like that where it seemed like the director said..."oh just keep rolling..no big deal..no one will notice..." Many better movies to invest 2 hours of your life with. Even of you are a Willis fan (as I am) ...tread carefully. See Wallstreet instead for corp. greed and suspense.
Everybody Has a Secret
posted on 17 Jun 2009In New York, the investigative reporter Rowena Price (Halle Berry) sees her scoop about a gay senator spiked by her editor. She quits her job in the newspaper and meets with her childhood friend Grace (Nicki Aycox) by chance in the subway. Grace tells Ro that she had just been dumped by the powerful and wealthy owner of the greatest New Yorker advertising agency, Harrison Hill (Bruce Willis), and she was threatening to tell his wife about their affair. When Grace is found dead, Harrison becomes Rowena's prime suspect. With the support of her hacker friend and former colleague Miles Haley (Giovanni Ribisi), Ro is hired for a temporary work in Harrison's agency to get close to the executive and investigate his life."Perfect Stranger" has a good story, with a surprising twist; the lead cast has the names of Halle Berry, Bruce Willis and Giovanni Ribisi; unfortunately, the screenplay does not work well since it does not create an empathy of the viewer with the characters, which have dirty secrets. In the end, this film is a good and forgettable entertainment. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "A Estranha Perfeita" ("The Perfect Stranger")
Halle, if you're going to continue dragging down your career, can you do us a favor and not bring Bruce with you?
posted on 09 Jun 2009I was very much looking forward to seeing Perfect Stranger, in fact I wanted to see it in the theater, but one my friends saw it and said it's more of a rental then the typical 10 dollar movie ticket price. So I waited and rented it yesterday, I watched it tonite and I am severely disappointed. I mean it's so bad that I just almost hanged myself in my room, it just had the most unoriginal story that I could imagine. Not to mention it was such a waste of good actors. Now I like Halle Barry, and of course, I'm a huge fan of Bruce Willis, so the combo seemed good enough for me and the story seemed sexy and exciting. But it turns out to be an unoriginal dud that does not excite people or keeps them guessing because the story just bangs your head around.Ro is a writer who's ex best friend is murdered, before the murder her best friend tells her about an affair she had with Harrison Hill, a big boss executive at an ad agency and how he wanted to end the affair, but she wanted to continue the relationship or she'd go to his wife. Ro decides to go undercover and discover Hill's dark secrets along with the help of her perverted friend, Miles. Then there are other little stories throughout the film that don't seem that relevant, so I won't bother mentioning.I should have known that when I read the back of the cover's reviews "Halle Berry is sexy and steams up the screen", what did that have to do with the movie? It's like that was the only nice thing the critic had to say about Perfect Stranger. I highly recommend that you stay away from this film, I've lost total hope now for Berry, she hasn't made smart choices since Monster's Ball or X-Men. But at least Bruce still has his chance to pull himself back up, just trust me when I say that this is a very bad film.1/10
At least the ending was good...
posted on 05 Jun 2009This is a pretty bad movie, But I did like the ending so it wasn't a complete waste of time finishing the movie.It kind of plays like an erotic thriller But with a lot less sexiness to it, I don't believe there were any actual nudity in the film but the feeling of it was similar to those types of movies, for example SLIVER.Giovanni Ribisi is one of my favorite actors but I can't wrap my head around why he chose to do this movie.Bruce Willis is always Bruce Willis and YES it is a little better then THE COLOR OF NIGHT which also was a similar type of movie, but that one was completely horrible so that's not a big deal.Halle Berry is the best part about the movie although she's not gonna win any more awards if she keeps this acting up.Storywise it's just really slow and often very boring, and it's not until the last 20 minutes until it actually gets "thrilling" so that's a bad thing for a thriller.Like I said: the ending was a good one, to bad about the rest.I think that it might work the other way around though if you liked the rest of the movie, the ending might throw you off instead, well well.
Mixed emotions
posted on 05 Jun 2009I think that Halle Berry is a beautiful and talented actress and I looked forward to seeing he latest Perfect Stranger which I saw last night. Overall I enjoyed the movie very much but was a wee bit dis- appointed in the ending. It was a very complicated story which had you guessing and when you think you have it figured out, the direction takes a complete turn and you are sitting there wondering what now? Bruce Willis was very good in his part as the suspect, and it is good to see Bruce in a different kind of part. I would not hesitate to recommend this to a wide sector of IMDb viewers, although it is a crap shoot that you will like it as well as I did. Enjoy
Good Different Movie
posted on 03 Jun 2009I actually enjoyed this movie.. i didn't want to watch it at first because of all the bad reviews but i have no idea why people are bashing it so much.. the movie keeps you guessing like crazy and i keep hearing people talking about how offensive it is.. i have seen way worse movies when it comes to swearing and "sex" scenes and people have given these movies very high ratings. People that are saying this is an offensive movie need to get off their high horse.. reality is movies are like this now get over it and quit being so sensitive.. man.. I enjoyed this movie and i would say people should rent it.. if you are very easily offended by swearing and a few scenes here and there that are a little graphic then don't watch it.. the movie is rated "R" for a reason.. so no kids will be watching it unless parents allow them..
doesn't play fair
posted on 30 May 2009I would second the viewer who commented that the film does not play fair with the viewer, by throwing in at the very end - in an oh-so-cheesy "so that's how you did it" sequence - all the explanatory and evidentiary information that had been denied to the viewer in the progress of the film, to wrap things up in a most unconvincing way. To its credit, the film does keep one's interest going throughout its course, but to sucker punch the viewer with such an unfair conclusion is inexcusable. Hitchcock would turn over in his grave. The other sad thing is that Bruce Willis is a finer actor than he seems to give himself credit for (e.g. his work in "Nobody's Fool"); why does he persist in making dreck like this?
Seemingly strong thriller ends up falling flat
posted on 24 May 2009As always I was excited to see another Bruce Willis film because in all fairness he hasn't had the greatest roles as of late. I also admit that I am in the minority of people and do NOT like Halle Berry. I have never seen her anything that is brilliant or captivating and her roles could have been performed by any one but still I anxiously waited to see The Perfect Stranger. The premise is simple enough but the film is chock full of twists and turns that unfortunately don't really keep you riveted as much as they do confused and everything just seems too forced like they purposely threw together certain elements to create suspense when a good writer should get that effect without forcing events. Director James Foley has had a stash of less than stellar and less known films although he had a bit of break through with 1996's teen cult thriller 'Fear' but for the most part I don't think he has the talent or experience to pull off a twisted thriller like this should have been. Same could be said for co-writers Todd Komarnicki, and Jon Bokenkamp, neither of whom have done anything like this to any great degree of success. There just wasn't enough talent of experience on the executive team to make this worthwhile despite the Hollywood elite cast.Halle Berry is tough as nails, Lois Lane like reporter Rowena with a troubled past of sexual abuse and hidden resentment towards men. Berry does an alright job but she came across as far too exotic, sexual and glamorous for this 'girl next door' kind of role. She just wasn't believable. That being said she's not completely wrong for the role and does what's given to her in a decent fashion. Bruce Willis is Harrison Hill, the millionaire ad executive who quickly becomes the suspect in the brutal murder of Rowena's childhood friend. Harrison is a womanizer and a hard guy to work for and has a certain slimy quality about him. Willis is pretty good in this role although it wasn't written quite as flamboyantly slimy as it could have been but then that might have been done on purpose (for the twist at the end.) I happen to think...also probably in a minority...that Willis can be a very versatile and strong actor with terrific screen presence and he proves some of that with this role. He certainly captures your attention on screen and they seem to built the film up before showing up really giving him that leading man quality. Giovanni Ribisi, as he often does, almost steals the show with a small yet effective and well done role as Rowanda's partner and good friend Miles who is secretly infatuated with her. Ribisi's quiet demeanor and effective character acting makes Miles a viable suspect and at the same time you feel a certain amount of sympathy for him. I think out of the three of them (Willis being a very close second) Ribisi had the best performance.Now let's talk twist. A really good twist has to be completely out of the blue, something that makes your mouth drop to the floor is disbelief and sends you back to see the movie again to watch it knowing what you know now and appreciate it on a whole different level. A Perfect Stranger does not give you that kind of twist. It felt more like the writers sat down and said well what would be 'cool', not shocking but what could we do that we think...because we watch CSI and 24...would be 'cool' and they slapped it together. I understand they did several different endings and if that's the cast they picked the wrong one. First of all I had my suspicions half way through the film and I am dumb as a post when it comes to figuring out movies like this and I had it nailed. I 'think' they properly pieced together the film so that the ending made sense and yet I didn't really care. However the addition of the neighbor watching the killer from across the street was a very intriguing part of the ending and added a certain Alfred Hitchcock/Rear Window type moment, implying justice will be served in the end or they will have to kill again. The film is not unredeemable, it has it's moments but it's not the best thriller out there right now, watch it when you have a chance but nothing to rush out to. 6/10
A quiet B-movie, worth watching for those who like to follow murder-mystery plots
posted on 18 May 2009Have you ever met someone who you didn't like at first but, after you made an effort, they kinda got your attention?I had to make the effort with Perfect Stranger. It is not an easy movie to like. Its direction seems pedestrian, the camera-work and editing wanting, and the acting wasted. The characters are not very nice people, but not evil enough to be anti-heroes.But let's work backwards. It has a killer ending. If you worked hard to follow the complex plot, your efforts pay off. That makes you feel good. Like listening to a person you can't get away from who has droned for an hour and a half and then suddenly what they are saying makes a warped kind of sense. The plot might be convoluted, but I have to admire the way it fits the horrible, cynical pieces together. An hour afterwards, it reminds me of old B-movies that you might dig up and pick little gems from their rotting carcass.So what's it about? Well, it could be about anything - no, that's me being too disingenuous. It's a mystery thriller. A whodunnit. It has Halle Berry moving through several personas and Bruce Willis being quite disgusting and yet getting our sympathies. She's an investigative reporter. He's the head of an advertising agency. Then there's some fabulous shots from the newly-completed 7 World Trade Center, the first of the new buildings on the former WTC site. Look out for stunning wraparound views of Lower Manhattan, the Hudson River, and New Jersey.Annoyingly, the film doesn't glamorise its strengths. A key early conversation between Halle Berry (Rowena) and her pal Grace is almost overpowered by the background noise of the subway trains. Almost, but not quite - are you paying attention? The views of New York are more impressive when you think back to them. But at the time we see them, we are trying to figure out what kind of game Harrison Hill is playing. Similarly, an early scene of outrage that could have grandstanded Berry's acting talents is subsumed into a very ordinary establishing shot. But condemn it early on at your peril. Dismiss it and you forego the enjoyment of a well-constructed mystery, even if it doesn't live up to the star ratings its big names might suggest. This film doesn't follow the 'good' rules, you long for something to spice it up. Some flashy camera-work, fancy edits maybe. Or something sexy with Halle Berry's legs? And you don't get much of that. Does the story have you by the balls yet? Probably not. "Stroke a man's (beep), you get him for one night - stroke his ego and you get him for life." Grace's comment only hits us after we leave the cinema. It might not be that simple, but Rowena, like any good journalist, only does 'sexy' here for effect.Rowena's pal winds up dead. Very dead. Horribly, bloated, facelessly dead. At this point, I was still thinking how they 'should' have directed the movie to give it more impact. Later on, I appreciate the understated style. It also leaves you free to follow the plot more carefully than if you are having clues and red herrings rammed down your throat.Rowena takes on another identity to get a job at Harrison Hill's agency, as well as some more online personas. The powerful Mr Hill seems to have been in everyone's pants (even though he has a genuinely stunning wife). Yet Willis plays the role with such honesty that we almost don't want him to get caught out. He might be a sleaze but Rowena's co-investigator, Miles, is a sleaze-ball of a different kind. Miles does online jiggery-pokery to find out stuff for Rowena. But he is also a different kind of twisted power-tripper and runs rings around her.Perfect Stranger lulls us into moral condemnation. Its outlook of the world is totally cynical. "Show me a beautiful woman and I'll show you a man who's tired of (beep)ing her," confides a Hill employee to Berry. When you meet the perfect stranger do you assume the best? Or do you assume the worst?"To a certain extent, everybody lives a double life," says Academy Award winner Halle Berry. "We're all complicated beings; we're different people all the time - for example, a woman might act differently at work than she does at home. We all hide something, even from our best friends. This movie highlights that and takes it to the next level, showing what we're capable of when we're forced to come to terms with it."OK, we know that nothing and no-one is perfect, and we accept that they everyone and everything is 'packaged', right down to the Veronica Secret gift bag that the ad agency is giving away. But ultimately Perfect Stranger is packaged as carelessly as if it were wrapped in second-hand gift wrap. That makes it easy to dismiss. Or loathe. But its self-effacing, redeeming qualities are perhaps sufficient not to ignore. Mystery thriller geeks, get your ticket now, before it is condemned to obscurity.(note - I have censored certain words from the quotes from the film for this site)
Thriller delivery: Feeble and Unsatisfying
posted on 12 May 2009Being a natural Bruce Willis fan, and fancying Halle Berry, I decided to see this movie. All I can say is do not expect a psychological thriller like "Silence of the Lambs" or even a suspense like "Premonition". The film jumped around and drifted from one scene to another with some of the poorest editing I have seen since "Wicker Park", containing a lot of "fade-ins" and "fade outs" and blackening transitioning. Addition to the poor transitions, the camera techniques tried to develop the mystery with a lot of "Sixth Sense" similar, odd camera angles which were quite laughable. The whole film was laughable (unintentionally). I was honestly afraid to laugh, fearing other members of the audiences' reactions, but many of them laughed too (I had an excuse to chuckle). The story was not solid, and the script was quite lame, leaving plot holes and an ending so unexpected and so pointless that it made no sense. In other words, the film gave no evidence to lead to the conclusion of the actual killer. The performances were equally bad. Although Bruce Willis still held to his usual, "tough guy" charm, he was still limited in the film. Halle Berry was somewhat fit with her role, but not nearly as good as some of her other roles. The only really good actor was Giovanni Ribisi who played Berry's "nut job" partner in reporting. He was a bit on the creepy side but he made the film interesting enough for me not to leave the theater.However, the film managed to hold some elements that kept me mildly interested. It is not even worth bothering to see in the theaters. If you want to see it, wait for rental; it is not worth six bucks. Maybe, a dollar at most. Because of Mr. Ribisi's charm, and the unintentional loads of humor, I give it a two out of five.
Perfect Strangers far from.
posted on 06 May 2009Your first clue that this film was a loser was the trite and overused title. The second was the self-conscious character name Harirson Hill, "who owns the biggest ad agency in New York." The third is that you are supposed to believe that Giovanni Ribisi is supposed to play a secondary character a la Jimmy Olson. Now that you know this film is el stinko, you can relax and count the clichés. There's one! The obligatory eating Chinese food. There's another! Everyone is super-skilled with computers. The fabulous apartment on a working girl's salary is always good, especially when accompanied by a fabulous wardrobe. The direction is about as bad as it gets, the plotting as silly as possible and the ending the kind of cheat that audiences detest and have from the days of Mary Pickford. Bruce Willis seems to be out to take over Michael Caine's "I will appear in any film." title and poor Halle seems to forget she has a reputation to maintain. Ribisi, usually great, hasn't seemed so insignificant since his first appearance on "Friends." I would love to see a documentary on how directors like James Foley get to be directors, when they don't have vision, pacing, taste or a clue where to put the camera and when. Don't confuse this review with the "Perfect Strangers" of 1945, 1950 and 1984 or any of the TV movies with that name. All of them had to be better, they just had to be.
Typical Crime Drama with poor acting
posted on 28 Aug 2009This is a typical drama with a twist at the end. Journalist Rowen Price(Halle Berry) goes undercover to try to expose powerful businessman Harrison Hill (Bruce Willis), whom he suspects killed her best friend. In order to enter his world, with the help of friend and colleague Miles Haley (Giovanni Ribisi), she poses as two individuals: one as a new employee of his, and one as an online chat buddy. The concept sounds exciting, but Price posing as the online chat buddy was not emphasized enough. In addition, Price's mission to root out the wrongdoings of Hill is often interrupted by the subplot of Haley's own personal vendetta in this mission, and his secret love-interest for Price. Many scenes were focused on the Haley and Price subplot, which sways away from the main problem of the movie: Willis' character.In addition, the acting was horrendous, especially that of Halle Berry. From her performance in this movie, as well her other performances in "Die Another Day," "Gothika" and "Catwoman," it appears that it was luck that she won the Oscar for her role in "Monster's Ball." Berry really has has poor acting, lacking depth and drama, and has many "cheesy" scenes in this movie (i.e., her cheering after exposing the Senator's scandal during the beginning of the movie).Overall, a very bland drama, with the only good piece of acting going to Bruce Willis.