I also found no issues with any sort of compression artifacts or noticeable noise. The aforementioned colors are terrific - bold, vivid, clean and consistent.
The image always looks razor-sharp and defined, with excellent depth and dimensionality. The source is immaculate, with excellent blacks and pitch-perfect contrast. The movie is as glossy as it is empty headed, and even if the subject matter doesn't really lend itself to truly classic high-def demo material, 'Perfect Stranger' looks fabulous on Blu-ray nonetheless.Īs we learn in this disc's supplements, the filmmakers went for a monochromatic look (lots of shiny, silver walls, etc.) with bright, striking splashes of color, and it sure looks spiffy here. Sony brings 'Perfect Stranger' to Blu-ray in 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 video, and the transfer is excellent. So, if you're in an undemanding mood - and you're willing to endure the sad sight of watching a once-glorious Oscar-winner in what could be the nadir of her career - fire up some popcorn and make a date with 'Perfect Stranger.' Still, for those with an appreciation for bad cinema, I'll go out on a limb and recommend this one as a rental, if only because it packs enough unintentional laughs to be entertaining. The climax in particular is both limp and unfulfilling. In the end, the film is too pedestrian and bland in execution to be a true camp classic. 'Perfect Stranger' is not the 'Showgirls' of adult thrillers. Granted, this film comes from the director of the famously profane 'Glengarry Glen Ross,' but given the minimal amount of onscreen violence or nudity, there's really no reason 'Perfect Stranger' would have been Rated R if it weren't for the liberal and wholly unnecessary uses of the F-word in just about every scene.Īlas, while it has its moments of satisfying camp excess, Plus, the movie has an oddly entertaining vulgar streak. Berry and Willis have such a lack of chemistry that there's a strangely perverse thrill in watching two fine actors struggle to make the most cringe-inducing dialogue sound sexy. Yet 'Perfect Stranger' still ends up being fun, simply because it is so lousy.
Even a second-rate Michael Crichton thriller knows how to exploit an old concept in a new way, but 'Perfect Stranger' just isn't innovative in its thrills. 'Perfect Stranger' would like us to marvel at how Rowena uses such newfangled gadgets as email, teleconferencing and spy-cams to catch her killer, but even if we roll with the flow, the only suspense director James Foley ('At Close Range,' 'Glengarry Glen Ross,' 'The Chamber') can muster up is Willis almost catching Berry scanning the internet for clues, and Ribisi being busted for disguising his own voice to sound like Willis. The flick's technology "hook" is equally absurd, and about a decade out of date. If he's not the movie's killer, he's still such a psycho he deserves the electric chair anyway. Smug and sneering, he has no hesitation in firing his employees by flipping them over tables and nearly beating them to a pulp.
Making matters worse, Willis is woefully off the mark, playing the high-powered Hill as a borderline loon.
I found myself laughing out loud at the number of inconsistencies and just plain implausible scenarios littered throughout the film. Okay, so 'Perfect Stranger' isn't just bad, it's wholly unbelievable. Engaging in a dangerous game of virtual cat-and-mouse, ultimately both Rowena and Hill come to realize things may not be what they seem - and that the real killer may not be who anyone suspected. Suspecting Hill of the crime, Rowena goes undercover with the help of her cyber-geek accomplice Miles Haley (Giovanni Ribisi), posing as two highly alluring women: Katherine, a sexy temp who works within Hill's agency, and Veronica, a seductive temptress he chats up online. Halle Berry stars as Rowena Price, an investigative reporter whose friend's affair with married ad exec Harrison Hill (Bruce Willis) ends in murder. But to my great surprise, I still found 'Perfect Stranger' bizarrely enjoyable in a chintzy, Sunday-afternoon rental kind of way. And to be sure, this is not a good movie - in fact, it's rather crappy.
After 'Perfect Stranger' received scathing reviews during its blink-or-you-missed-it theatrical run this past spring, I went into this review fully expecting this film to be a disaster of epic proportions. Thank god for the law of diminished expectations.