Movie Review: Perfect Stranger

I like a good mystery and I like suspense, not gore or violence, but the edge-of-your seat kind of tensions that makes you jump when the music swells, even if nothing actually happened. This is not that kind of movie, though that's what I was hoping for.

Halle Berry, of whom I've never been a huge fan, plays a newspaper reporter out to bring down the rich and powerful by uncovering their scandals. When her latest muck-raking effort is sabotaged, she quits the paper, but becomes drawn into what might be an even bigger cover-up. Her partner/friend from the paper (Giovanni Ribisi), continues to help her on the sly as she pursues the head of a large advertising agency (Bruce Willis) who may have killed her childhood friend.

Probably the best thing I can say for this is that I didn't (quite) figure out the ending. Berry's acting is so-so, Ribisi is good playing pretty much the same guy he usually does and Bruce Willis is Bruce Willis. There's no real suspense, not much action, and the story moves at a fairly slow pace. Not slow like nicely spaced out, but more like revelation, kill some time, hint-hint, kill some time, Isn't This Creepy?, kill some time.

I got bored enough in parts to play solitaire on my phone while I watched, but it wasn't bad enough to turn off. I'd say, watch it for free if you have a chance, but I don't think I'd even recommend renting it.

2 out of 5 stars