Perfect Stranger (2007)

Director:

James Foley

Writers (WGA):

Todd Komarnicki (screenplay)
Jon Bokenkamp (story)

Release Date:

13 April 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

How Far Would You Go To Keep A Secret?

Plot:

A journalist goes undercover to ferret out businessman Harrison Hill as her best friend's killer. Posing as one of his temps, she enters into a game of online cat-and-mouse.

Plot Keywords:

Secret | Childhood Friend | Murder | Senator | Best Friend

Cast

Halle Berry	...	Rowena Price
Bruce Willis	...	Harrison Hill
Giovanni Ribisi	...	Miles Haley
Richard Portnow	...	Narron
Gary Dourdan	...	Cameron
Florencia Lozano	...	Lieutenant Tejada
Nicki 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

MPAA:

Rated R for sexual content, nudity, some disturbing violent images and language.

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

USA:R | Netherlands:16 | UK:15 | Singapore:M18 | Ireland:16 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Singapore:NC-16 (edited version) | Argentina:13 | Brazil:14 | Australia:M (original rating) | Philippines:R-13 (MTRCB) | Germany:16 | Portugal:M/12 | Norway:15 | Sweden:15 | Chile:14 | South Korea:18 | Malaysia:18PL | Peru:14 | Japan:PG-12 | Spain:18 | Finland:K-15 | New Zealand:R16

Filming Locations:

Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Revolution Studios

Trivia:

Miles says that it will take Ro 3 minutes, 14 seconds to download the spy software, "but that's an approximation." 3.14 is an approximation of pi.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Mr. Miles is talking to Rowena on the phone, after she sent him the secret laptop audio transmission of Senator Sacs, a woman with long hair and eye glasses walks past his desk from the far left of the screen. When Mr. Miles stands up, the same woman goes passes his desk again from the far left of the screen again.

Quotes:

Harrison Hill: A very famous man once said that sincerity is everything. Once you learn to fake that, the rest is easy.

Movie Connections:

References All the President's Men (1976)

Soundtrack:

Like a Star

Noir-ish surprise

I've read all the negative comments and I'm starting to think someone who hates Halle Berry has created multiple accounts. I hadn't intended on seeing it, I just felt like going to the movies this afternoon. The movie I wanted to see didn't start until later so I said 'what the heck, I'll give it a try'. This movie was a pleasant surprise for me.

I called it noir-ish because that's the feeling I got from it. And I have to say that sitting in the theater I thought, 'Gee, it's nice to see a movie with two real live movies stars in it.' You get all kinds of weird combinations these days with stars and starlets and rap artists that it's no wonder that most movies are awful.

In this case you have a story about a woman played by Halle Berry who is an investigative reporter for a major newspaper. She has a great story that her paper decides to not use. In anger, she quits, and at the same time a maybe even more important story, involving an advertising giant played by Bruce Willis, falls in her lap. So the movie is about her trying to get to the bottom of this story along with the help of her friend/colleague, played by Giovanni Ribisi. Now I'm purposely not including any spoilers because I personally like to know as little as possible going into a film.

I think a good number of people who like movies like The Usual Suspects or Lucky Number Slevin will like something like this. Now where I think we can really tell is if you also saw and didn't hate the Black Dahlia. A lot of people didn't like it. I loved it. But being very specific there were people who didn't like it because they felt the ending was too quick and that there was no way you could have figured it out with the information at hand until the movie explained it for you at the end. I disagree but those people may have a problem with this. Anyone who wants to figure mysteries out before the end and doesn't want to go along for the ride may have the age old complaint of "how are we supposed to figure it out if they only told you (insert important plot point) at the end?" I'm not one of those people. I like to go along for the ride. That being said, I do think there is enough info that if you really want to guess at the ending you could do it.

The acting was great. I'm not that big on Halle Berry but she did the best job I've seen her do in a while. Bruce is becoming someone I definitely trust with my money. And, imo, it's Giovanni Ribisi who stole the show here. He's getting better all the time.

This movie is for adults, not that it's too much for a teenager to handle. I just don't really think it's something your average teen would be interested in. And it's an R for a couple of reasons. So I'm going to recommend it for older mystery and/or noir fans who don't mind not being able to figure out the ending.