Six Degrees of Separation (1993)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Fred Schepisi

Writers (WGA):

John Guare (play)
John Guare (screenplay)

Release Date:

8 December 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery

Tagline:

For Paul, every person is a new door to a new world.

Plot:

Flan and Ouisa Kittredge, rich NYC art dealers, are called on one night by a young man, Paul, who professes to be a friend of their kids' from Harvard...

Plot Keywords:

Art Dealer | Art | Rich | New York | Business

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Stockard Channing	...	Louisa ('Ouisa') Kittredge
Will Smith	...	Paul
Donald Sutherland	...	John Flanders ('Flan') Kittredge
Ian McKellen	...	Geoffrey Miller
Mary Beth Hurt	...	Kitty
Bruce Davison	...	Larkin
Richard Masur	...	Dr. Fine
Anthony Michael Hall	...	Trent Conway
Heather Graham	...	Elizabeth
Eric Thal	...	Rick
Anthony Rapp	...	Ben
Oz Perkins	...	Woodrow ('Woody') Kittredge (as Osgood Perkins)
Catherine Kellner	...	Talbot ('Tess') Kittredge
J.J. Abrams	...	Doug (as Jeffrey Abrams)
Joe Pentangelo	...	Police officer

MPAA:

Rated R for language and some sexuality.

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:18A (Ontario) | Canada:G (Québec) | Germany:6 | Spain:13 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Bronxville, New York, USA

Company:

Maiden Movies

Trivia:

The part of the husband was initially offered to Michael Douglas.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When Flan is pretending to pray next to Ouisa, the boom mic and operator are reflected in the large window behind them.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Flan: My God!
Ouisa: Is anything gone?
Flan: How can I look, I'm shaking!
Ouisa: I want to know if anything's gone!
Flan: Calm down.
Ouisa: We could have been killed! Oh, my God! The Kandinsky!
Flan: The Kandinsky!
Ouisa: It's gone, oh my God! Call the police!
Flan: Oh, no, there it is. Oh! The silver Victorian inkwell!
[...]

Movie Connections:

References "Great Performances: Cats" (1998)

Soundtrack:

THE VERY THOUGHT OF YOU

A very good story, with brilliant performances, well worth watching.

At once you can see this was a stage play, with the concentration on dialogue, and although it stands out somewhat here, and there is a slight edge of everything being just a notch above the usual, the visuals and acting bring you into this great story quite easily. Will Smith acts his pants off, well quite literally in some scenes, but he is superb in this role, and acting along such names as Stockard Channing and Donald Sutherland, both of whom are spectacular in their roles. A story based around the idea that everyone is connected to everyone else by a maximum of six other people, it's just finding those six that make the link, and this is turned into an extremely interesting story, told in a series of anecdotal discussions between the main characters and their friends and business partners at various different social occasions. You find yourself drawn and fascinated to the tale as it unfolds, almost feeling as though you are one of those people, eager to hear the next step in the tale. However, I felt somewhat disappointed in the ending, almost as though it didn't fit and came out of nowhere. Yet the ideas of the stranger giving the couple more than they gave the stranger was a good one, I just think what they finally got wasn't what the story needed…but then, sometimes that's life. A very good story, with brilliant performances, well worth watching.