Six Degrees of Separation (1993)

The Worst Film Ever

Strong and Moving!

A Masterpiece!

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

...it reeks of self indulgent and rather amateurish ensemble acting. The young people in this film never seem, for one moment like they have any idea of what they are doing. The adults are never believable. Please don't tell me that this is exactly the point and how their roles were meant to be played. Only the worst director in the world could have looked at their group scenes and said, "now that really sizzled." I am positive that every actor in this film (some of whom are truly gifted performers) other than Stockard Channing, (who---let's face it---has been a lot better than this)--probably cringe when they watch themselves in this. This is the only timeI have ever seen Donald Sutherland in, where he is grating and annoying. Bruce Davidson is much better than this and seems to be phoning it in. And Will Smith is NOT a revelation in this film, no matter how much people wanted him to be. He is more of a charming speech giver than someone truly invested in hischaracter. The flash back and story telling style seems like something out of Love American Style. This is a wannabe attempt at high brow film making and it does not get there. Prepare to be very bored and lectured to by a story that wants to dazzle you with style over substance.

i voted this film very highly, an 8 to be exact. i might be the only one that thought Will Smith did a fine job within this movie. His character rehearsed his lines, therefore sounding rehearsed. So that robotic argument is virtually out the window, considering that's what his character was to be and sound like. Did anyone write about the possibility of Paul having any mental illness? It seems like people missed that the character of "Paul" needed mental help and that is one main reason louisa or oisa or whatever her name was felt for the kid. She was also impressed with his ability to learn so much and be able to change his way of speech and become so articulate in a matter of just 3 months. Personally, i cant think of a movie i've seen where i thought Donald Sutherland ever did a bad job either. I will agree with one thing though, the acting of the "kids" of each family was god awful.

"Six Degrees of Separation" is about a rich fifth avenue couple, the Kittredge's, who are conned by a young black man one night and spend the next few weeks finding out as much as they can about this boy. They go around telling the story to everyone they come across and find friends who went through the same experience days before. The movie is very slow moving, with many of the important scenes carried out through endless dialogue and very little else going on. Originally being a stage piece, the heavy dialogue is to be expected; however, the adaptation to screen leaves you wanting a little more. In spite of it's flaws, "Six Degrees of Separation" gives an interesting insight on how superficial lives can be and how we sometimes take what we have for granted.

Flan (Donald Sutherland) and Ouisa (Stockard Channing) play a typical upper class, rich, yuppie couple in New York City. On one faithful night, a young man named Paul(Will Smith) comes to their house saying he has been mugged and that he goes to school with their children at Harvard University and is the son of veteran actor Sidney Poitier. He is quickly loved by Flan and Ouisa due to his charm, wit and knowledge of literary works such as "Catcher In The Rye". However, after finding him and another male in their bedroom, they kick him out. As they speak with some friends, they find out that Paul is in fact a con-man who charms his way into the homes of the upper class and throughout the film, the couple, along with other people who have encountered Paul, try to find and have him arrested while Ouisa also finds out about herself. Six Degrees Of Separation was adapted from a play of the same name, made by John Guare(who also wrote the screenplay for this film), which was in turn inspired by a real life event which happened to a friend of his. The film was directed by Fred Schepisi. Let's start with the positive. The acting in the film is top notch. We have big names such as Donald Sutherland who has proved himself to be an excellent actor in countless other films such as "Ordinary People". Stockard Channing, who you might remember from the musical/comedy "Grease" also plays a good role. But the biggest surprise in this film is probably rapper/actor Will Smith. At the time of making this film, Will Smith was known as the rapper "Fresh Prince". He also starred in the popular comedy series "The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air". This was his first dramatic role, and he was simply brilliant. My biggest problem with this film was that…it just was not that interesting. The plot itself was somewhat intriguing, however I did not like the way it played out. There were quite a few times in the film where I was completely lost and did not understand what was going on. The film also dragged in a few places and I feel some portions could have been either trimmed or completely taken out of the film. An example of this is during a scene where Will Smith's character is staring at the camera and reciting a very long list of the films of Sidney Poitier. I understand it was essential for his character to have knowledge of Poitier and his work if he was to pretend he was Poitier's son, however we (the viewers) could have lived without that scene. In conclusion, Six Degrees Of Separation is a fairly well made film with strong performances and a somewhat intriguing storyline, however I found it a bit boring and overlong at times.