The Perfect Stranger (2011) User Reviews

"The Perfect Stranger" falls into a small town Abyss

[CarolAHall · 7/10 · 5 December 2014]

This is a sneaky film, it sneaks up on you slowly, decisively and then drops you into an abyss. A small Spanish town, all but abandoned, is filled with dangerous potholes that swallow up wandering tourists. Suddenly there is a new visitor.

Each townsperson projects all of their hopes, dreams, needs and fears on him, even though he can't speak Spanish, which is the cause of many a humorous exchange. Maybe he'll reopen the long abandoned store he's living in and fulfill everyone's needs. The townspeople make a list.

A youth, oppressed by his family, escapes to paint the newbie's abode. His good Christian mother, projects on this visitor a sex "perp" identity, trying to enchain her son in his role as a useless child, who must suffer forever her cruel and perpetual "protection".

A young girl trying to escape her father's descent into prostitution and drink, constantly criticizes the visitor. But as he can't understand her language, only her desperate straits, so he offers her a safe place to sleep, and food, thereby upsetting her world through simple kindness.

The middle aged town gossip comes filled with information, but the visitor cannot understand her. Still, she uses his attention to plot her next move in her quest to become a mother, using indiscriminately the only men left in town willing or able for such hijinks.

All of these stories finally intersect revealing why the visitor has come and why he never leaves. Without giving anything further away, all that remains is the truth, that children may be used as a form of continuance by any town anywhere. But more importantly that their survival as realized human beings depends on real parenting, decided not by blood ties or genetics, but by heart.

Cloying feelgood Hallmark PC but not bad

[peru1-595-630106 · 7/10 · 12 January 2014]

A sort of Being There movie where an Irishman who comes to a small Balearic Island town helps everyone without understanding a word they are saying...like a psychiatrist who only nods and people are cured.

The feel good cloying hallmark quality of the natives was the only thing that takes this thing down a notch or two. The PC elements... a probable lesbian who wants to join the military and repair tanks and a low confidence boy with a hearing aide (symbolic) while cooked are rather pleasantly and tastefully done. Also there is a middle aged daffy woman who wants to get pregnant (sub plot) and never figures out the Irishman (Meaney) doesn't understand her conversations with him. But people aren't this cloyingly simple. In fact what I have read at least of Corsica foreigners are regularly bombed and killed.

The Irishman was trying to find where his girlfriend died when she ran from him on a vacation years before and died falling into a cave "sink hole" that dot the area. He only has a photograph to go by and he is trying to make some closure on the tragedy.

It works best as a comedy but with a bittersweet underpinning.... It gets a solid 7....suspending disbelief for the comedy. Again the main flaw is the over done too feel good stuff.

RECOMMEND

Humanity revealed through overcoming pain...

[cololaffey · 10/10 · 20 February 2012]

An age-old premise for films, but in this case a delightful cast of disconnected folks young and old - trying to make sense of what they don't know, can't do, and must live with. I saw this at the Palm Springs Film Festival and found myself enchanted. Clearly the work of a master storyteller, Arturo Ruiz. Colm Meaney (Mark O'Reilly) pulls us in from the beginning, silently, and each character projects their own story of who they think he is and why he's there. With no way to verbally communicate we see, in the case of the two young people he befriends, his compassionate nature and sensitivity through actions and the innate intelligence he helps them discover in themselves. Powerful performance by Ana Wagener. In short - a study in the power and pitfalls of imagination. Loved every minute.

Simple, beautiful story executed with compelling direction and acting.

[suite92 · 10/10 · 29 November 2013]

Mark walks into a small town in Spain. In the town square, he opens an old shop for which he has keys. Biel wounds his hand, gets help from Mark, then asks for a job repairing things in the shop. Celia hides from the cops in his shop for about five minutes one day. Later, he helps patch her up after someone punches her in the face.

Mark does not speak Spanish. Next to no one in the town has any English. This makes for some interesting interactions. Mark is looking for something in the surrounding countryside. He mounts a large topographical map on one of his walls. He makes notations at the places where he has visited.

The people in the town come up with a variety of explanations of Mark's presence. Celia makes some progress in teaching Mark Spanish in exchange for temporary shelter and meals. Klaus, the violin player, on the other hand, speaks German and not as much Spanish. The two cops are trying to figure out what Biel and Celia are doing while spending time with Mark.

It was a lovely moment when Biel fixes the tap, which used to turn out the lights. People bring all sorts of things to Mark's establishment, thinking the objects will be directly applicable to his business. Together with Biel's work, the place starts to look rather nice.

Mark's quest starts to look more coherent on the map. The cops finally ask for ID after they ask the local real estate official about sales; there were none. They never get around to asking how Mark got the key to the place. While at the police station, Mark sees a photo of a man at a place he sort of recalls; the police help him find where it is on a map.

Celia fails her physical since she has an inherited pulmonary problem. She had intended to work on tanks in the armed forces. She gets in a row with her father, and punches the cop who thinks he is her boyfriend. The cop gives chase; the next morning she's missing. Biel looks for her. Mark seems to be very close to finding what he was looking for.

When Biel lets Mark know that Celia has gone missing, Mark immediately joins the search.

Will they find Celia? Will Mark find what he was looking for?

------Scores-------

Cinematography: 10/10 No problems.

Sound: 10/10 Good.

Acting: 10/10 Colm Meany at his best, and his best was very good. Fine supporting actors.

Screenplay: 10/10 Lovely story, with just the right level of resolution. The communication accomplished against language barriers was exceptional between the mature, compassionate older man and the two young people.

from one to ten, this one gets 100

[twogrtkids · 10/10 · 24 November 2013]

This movie blew me out of the water, off the map, off the charts. Exceptional story telling at its zenith! Where do I start? Superior! Big thumbs up! Enchanting! Happy! Charming! Sad! Delightful! Humane! Funny! But so simple. Oh, I know what word I haven't used yet, PERFECT! Setting, director, screenwriter, actors. Im telling you, ya gotta, you just gotta! I was going to write about the movie and admit to spoilers, but I have decided that I will invite you to watch this movie. Colm Meaney! Need I say more? Actor of the century! He must have thought the world had been placed at his feet when this role came to him or if his acting agent called and said, Colm, you better read this one? Who knows? As Susan Hayward said years ago in a movie, long forgotten, "I'm beggin ya, Hank" Well, I'm beggin ya, Hank, see this movie. I will admit to one thing. There are English subtitles so your reading the foul language, which I sort of didn't mind, in fact that was funny too, because the foul words were in Spanish, so my sensitivities to bad language were spared, because I couldn't understand them! To me that's funny!!! When Shrek came out, I loved it so much I wanted to be green. Then when Avatar came out I loved it so much I wanted to be blue. Now that I have seen this movie "the Perfect Stranger" I want to move to Ireland and find Mr. Meaney!!!