James Foley's "Perfect Stranger" is neither a really good nor a really bad movie. Actually, its sort of a second feature or B movie type film from the forties shot with an "A" movie budget.
The acting by all the principles is pretty flat and not very involving, just as the plot itself is not very involving.
One of the problems is stories about rich and powerful men who may be murderers are not uncommon in American films. And here just isn't anything new in this film, despite all the efforts to gussy it up with the perils of meeting people on line, or the belladonna connection in the end. Actually, all that stuff did was overly complicate the plot.
What might have made a more interesting would have been to really explore sexual harassment, showing how a rich and powerful boss exploits female employees for sexual favors. You could have left the whole murder plot out, because it really didn't work very well anyway. I never felt Halle Berry was in any real peril and I never found Bruce Willis all that menacing, despite the totally unbelievable scene showing him physically pummeling a subordinate in his office in front of a room full of on lookers. (Can anyone say law suit?) But you could have explored the sexual predator angle quite well with this film and cast. In fact, to make it really interesting, you could have moved the story to Hollywood and made it about a studio boss who constantly demanded sexual favors from pretty young actresses. While Hollywood always denies this sort of thing happens, during the heyday of the studio system some studio bosses even had small bedrooms off of their offices where they could take naps when needed. Right, take naps.
Anyway, this film is probably best left viewed on DVD, where you can skim past the dull parts.
The acting by all the principles is pretty flat and not very involving, just as the plot itself is not very involving.
One of the problems is stories about rich and powerful men who may be murderers are not uncommon in American films. And here just isn't anything new in this film, despite all the efforts to gussy it up with the perils of meeting people on line, or the belladonna connection in the end. Actually, all that stuff did was overly complicate the plot.
What might have made a more interesting would have been to really explore sexual harassment, showing how a rich and powerful boss exploits female employees for sexual favors. You could have left the whole murder plot out, because it really didn't work very well anyway. I never felt Halle Berry was in any real peril and I never found Bruce Willis all that menacing, despite the totally unbelievable scene showing him physically pummeling a subordinate in his office in front of a room full of on lookers. (Can anyone say law suit?) But you could have explored the sexual predator angle quite well with this film and cast. In fact, to make it really interesting, you could have moved the story to Hollywood and made it about a studio boss who constantly demanded sexual favors from pretty young actresses. While Hollywood always denies this sort of thing happens, during the heyday of the studio system some studio bosses even had small bedrooms off of their offices where they could take naps when needed. Right, take naps.
Anyway, this film is probably best left viewed on DVD, where you can skim past the dull parts.