Produced by Fred Schepisi, Arnon Milchan. The thrall of an exciting journey is run aground by rather routine, banal explanations.Īn MGM release of a Maiden Movies/New Regency production. While it provides the material with an edge and uncertainty, the wildly black comic elements evaporate as the script attempts to make sense of the human condition. Guare and director Fred Schepisi are intent on changing the rules as the story proceeds. The transition from farce to thriller to moral inspection does not flow organically. Paul’s importance diminishes as the Kittredges begin to look in the mirror for the essential answers.

They simply must get to the root of why anyone would go to such elaborate lengths to create such an elegant ruse for no tangible profit. However, the incident weighs heavily on their minds. The police are called but make it very clear perpetrating gullibility is not a felony offense. It doesn’t become any clearer when friends relate a carbon-copy experience. They sense they were taken advantage of and resent how easily they fell for his patter. Was something stolen? Worse yet, they might have been murdered.

Paul flees and his hosts begin to hyperventilate. The bubble promptly bursts when Ouisa Kittredge awakens the next morning and finds their guest cavorting with a male hustler. He also cooks a spectacular meal and by the end of the evening has established such a warm bond that the Kittredges insist he sleep over. Posing as the son of Sidney Poitier, he captivates the couple and a visiting friend (Ian McKellen) with his candor, intelligence and passion. In that brief period, he proves himself immaculately seductive. Identifying himself as Paul (Will Smith), a friend and classmate of their children at Harvard, he enters their life for a moment. They have an incredible story to relate about a young black man who arrived at their doorstep late one evening bleeding from a knife wound and claiming to have been a mugging victim. The tale within a tale is related by the Kittredges (Stockard Channing, Donald Sutherland), chic Fifth Avenue folk who deal and speculate in high-society art.

Six degrees of separation review