Perfect Stranger

The problem with this movie is not that it is bad, it is just timid. It wants to say all of these things and be all of these things, but it is afraid. It is like that kid in high school who wants to be confident, but when given the chance to talk to the pretty girl, he fumbles over all of his words. Mostly, this movie wants to be one delving into the world of anonymous on-line sex, but the most we get is some on-line flirting because it won't take us in that world. It wants to talk about concealing the truth by stripping Halle Berry's character of a story about a rich senator who is homophobic, while being gay in secret, but that story gets wrapped up so quickly it doesn't get to any meat. We are supposed to believe Giovanni Ribisi, is some sort of sexual deviant, but the movie is afraid to show us that and just alludes to it mostly. Never has a movie with such a racy trailer failed to deliver on anything. Never have rumored sex scenes in a film been so far from the truth, and never before has Halle Berry had less chemistry on screen than she does with Bruce Willis.


Halle Berry has a friend die, she thinks Bruce Willis killed her and since she is a reporter she wants to get all of the acts of the case. Ribisi is her best friend/co-worker and they are going to work together to solve this. Ribisi's character carries an obvious torch for Berry (who can blame him) and what follows is a messy film with an improbable conclusion and the most boring on screen flirting I have seen in many years. Wat we also have are seemingly pointless flashbacks to Berry's childhood, where her father abused her. However, very early you catch on as to why they are being shown and it completely ruins the ending, because if it had ended differently these scenes would have been pointless. Rumors are that they actually shot 4 endings, with a different killer for each one, but if you watch the movie it becomes obvious only one ending even seems possible. So, unless those endings carry completely different movies, they would make so much of the existing movie obsolete. Willis stars as a very wealthy man, with a controlling wife. However, that does not stop him from having sex with temps and interns at the office. We are supposed to believe he is a freak because we are told that. However, nothing he does in the movie really gives us that impression.


The script is generally bad and the directing and editing are both choppy and seem unnecessary. Berry is back to form as a barely average actress who happens to be unbelievably gorgeous and Willis is his usual solid self, with two modes of talking, that lilt like whisper or that loud growl. He comes out of this movie mostly unscathed, but I imagine he did this movie because he got to make out with Berry. Ribisi is really the only thing in this movie that comes close to impressing. He is always looks like he is on the verge of jumping Berry's bones, while managing to be her friend. His performance is about the only acting job in this mess. There is also a whole subplot or two that don't even need to be in this movie and in fact if they had been trimmed, the movie would have come in 30 minutes shorter and been easier to handle.