It was bound to happen. Halle Berry and Bruce Willis were at some point in time going to cross paths in a movie again. The last time it happened was in the lackluster The Last Boy Scout way back in 1991 when both were rising stars. Now in the prime (some may even say the decline) of their careers they reconnect with Perfect Stranger. The question, of course, is should they have bothered?
Perfect Stranger is a story about an investigative reporter, Rowena (Halle Berry), who begins to dig into the goings-ons of a wealthy and powerful advertising executive, Harrison Hill (Bruce Willis), whom she suspects of murder. This is because her friend Grace (Nicki Aycox) was unceremoniously dumped by Hill and was soon thereafter found brutally murdered. To aid her in her fact finding, Rowena elicits help from her hacker and tech geek friend, Miles (Giovanni Ribisi), while delving into the online world of dating and sex chat. Yeah, I know the plot sounds a bit quirky, yet it almost pulls it off. Here's why.
The actors are cast to their strengths. As usual, Bruce Willis plays the part of the pompous, egotistical, emotionless character exceptionally well. After all, he's been portraying these character types for years (see Sin City and The Fifth Element). Giovanni Ribisi once again finds himself playing a strange, outsiderish, yet highly motivated person (see Boiler Room and a few episodes of Friends). And of course who can forget the incredibly beautiful Halle Berry? Although she has done much better work (Monster's Ball), Ms. Berry manages to do a believable job in an otherwise forgettable role. With the correct pieces in place it is almost enough to overshadow a relatively boring movie.
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