![]() ![]() A good example is the character of Harrison Hill, who is slimy simply because he is supposed to be slimy for the sake of the story. They have no personality and no real motivation other than to act as red herrings. They are victims of a plot that knows it's clever. The characters are murky at best and, as previously mentioned, exist simply to lead us in multiple directions. Long before we find out that the movie doesn't even want to play fair, Perfect Stranger never truly captures our attention to start with. A thriller like this has to be planned out and lead to one true answer, not whatever answer the filmmakers feel like. The answer exists simply in whatever of the three endings worked out the best. The problem is almost all of these secrets exist simply to throw us off course. The movie stresses time and time again that everyone has dirty secrets, and yes, many secrets are exposed. I guess we're supposed to be enthralled by the twisting plot that casts everyone who plays a major role into a shadowy light. The pace is leisurely to the point of being nearly stagnant, and the few sex scenes contained within the film are completely and instantly forgettable. He seems to be trying to make an erotic murder thriller along the lines of Basic Instinct, but the movie is not very erotic nor is it very thrilling. The problem lies with the screenplay by Todd Komarnicki. There's nothing exactly wrong with the concept behind Perfect Stranger, and director James Foley certainly gives the movie an attractive look. Naturally, things are not what they seem, and the movie has more red herrings than a fresh fish market to keep us guessing in sheer futility. Deciding to investigate on her own, Rowena turns up at Harrison's corporate office as a Temp and tries to get close to him, with Miles trying to dig up more dirt on the guy. When evidence pops up that Grace may have been pregnant, Harrison becomes all the more suspicious to Rowena, especially since the man is married and has a long history of past affairs. Grace had mentioned that their relationship had recently soured, and that Harrison was no longer talking to her. The two women just happened to have a chance meeting in a subway shortly before Grace's murder, and she told Rowena about how she had been having an on-line affair with a powerful New York ad executive named Harrison Hill (Bruce Willis). Rowena's having a tough time after she quits her job due to one of her stories falling through and a childhood friend of hers named Grace (Nicki Aycox) turns up dead. The film centers on an investigative journalist named Rowena (Halle Berry) who specializes in going undercover and exposing corporate and political frauds with the help of her creepy best friend and co-worker Miles (Giovanni Ribisi) who seems to have a certain unhealthy obsession with her that is painfully obvious to the audience, yet Rowena seems blissfully ignorant to. When I realized that there was no point in following the clues and the movie simply plays to the demands of the filmmaker and which ending worked best with test audiences, it made me hate this shallow and silly excuse for a thriller even more. It doesn't want us to figure it out, and it doesn't play fair. This is a movie that jerks us around simply for the sole fact that it wants to jerk us around. After viewing Perfect Stranger, I went on the film's page at the IMDb, and found out that there were three different endings filmed, each one with a different character being guilty.
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