Halle’s Got the Hotz...4 Brucie?!?!?!

Hey, Halle? The Academy called. They want their Oscar back.

But, in all seriousness, the only positive things I've heard about this movie have been from quote whores. By far, the most entertaining review I've read for it was the sarcasm-laced one I found in my Entertainment Weekly. (Hmm...maybe if they released THAT instead of the film...)

It's good to know that you're alright, Head RAZZ. Besides this film, I did see that you added DELTA FARCE, ARE WE DONE YET?, and KICKIN' IT OLD SCHOOL. But there's still a couple more to add though, but I think I'll be patient with you.

Now, talking about this film. I think Halle cant' seem to get anything going since she won that Oscar. Well, she's been in only 2 good movies, though both of them were weak: Robots, a CGI-animated film with Ewan McGregor and Robin Williams, and X-Men: The Last Stand, though weak, it was good. One of the few problems about X-Men: The Last Stand was that the director gave Halle more screen time, and there have been some critics that didn't like that.

Contains major spoilers.

This could have been a great movie.  It would have been a great movie if it had a better script.  It should have been a great movie.  Coulda would shoulda, but it wasn't.  At times it was great, at times it was over the top, at times it was tedious, and at no time was it never engaging. 

And then the ending wreaked.

Much fine acting was devoted to this movie.  I admired how much effort and acting Halle Berry and Bruce Willis put into making the boring online chat dialog sound convincing.  If tone of voice was all that was needed, the chat would have worked, but unfortunately, the actual words are important, too, and screenwriter Todd Komarnicki just couldn't come up with good online sex chats.  Besides, it's hard to WATCH an online chat, so if it's not a really hot, funny, sinister, engaging online chat, it shouldn't be up on the screen.

The film also had a good polish.  I credit that to director James Foley.  But polishing a turd gives you a polish turd.  And acting well in a polished turd gives you a well-acted polished turd.  So I wouldn't be surprised if I saw Foley, Berry and Willis on the nominating ballot.  I may vote for Komarnicki and Foley, but I'll give Berry and Willis a pass.  Yes, they should have insisted the script be improved, but I'm amazed at the lines and the plotlines they almost convince you are genuine. 

Aside from the script, my two biggest complaints are that the storyline isn't engaging, and the script springs the ending on you with nothing in hindsight to point you in that direction.  Berry plays an attractive but unethical Rowena, Giovanni plays a faithful but pathetically obsessed Miles, and Willis plays ad agency head Harrison Hill who doesn't know what the hell he is doing.  Characters I don't care about in a story about an unethical, tenacious reporter who bombs out one story and then bumps into a friend who has dirt on an ad agency head.  The friend winds up dead.  So the reporter and her hacker friend investiage the ad agency head.  It could have been a great story, but the execution left no heat.  But it left plenty of red herrings, none of which point towards the real murderer.  Spoiler.  That's left for when Miles fingers Rowena in a long, drawn out explanation that leaves him obviously open to being murdered and framed, and then her neighbor witnesses the murder, and we're left wondering if he turns her in or not.  Do you like that ending?  I don't.  And abruptly ending the movie this way does not twist a plot as much as it disconnects the movie.  MAYBE if the ending was ironic or poetic it COULD work, but this ending plopped onto the screen like an elephant's business from its hind end.

So, to sum up, good performances, good polish, lousy script, unappealing characters, uninvolving storyline and a lousy abrupt ending.  Razzie noms to Foley (worst director), Karmarnicki (worst screenplay), Willis (worst actor) and Berry (worst actress), although like I said, I'd give Willis and Berry a pass at the end.  They SHOULD have demanded better, but they made the best out of what they had.

I gave this a 3 out of 10 on IMDb.

Poor Halle...I really want her to get back into roles that showcase her acting ablities, instead of ones that make her look like a joke. Bruce's movies have been good lately, but this one is definitely one of his worst. I think "Perfect Strangers" should be considered in the following categories... 

WORST PICTURE

WORST DIRECTOR (JAMES FOLEY)

WORST ACTRESS (HALLE BERRY) - a possible frontrunner  

WORST ACTOR (Bruce Willis)

WORST SUPPORTING ACTOR (Giovanni Ribisi)

WORST ON-SCREEN COUPLE (BERRY & either WILLIS or RIBISI)

WORST SCREENPLAY

She has another movie coming out this year, called "Things We Lost In the Fire," co-starring Benicio Del Toro. It looks very promising. Promising enough to get Berry's career back on track??