Perfect Stranger **½ (2007, Halle Berry, Bruce Willis, Giovanni Ribisi, Richard Portnow, Nicki Aycox) – Classic Movie Review 5142

Director James Foley is just the right man to handle briskly, efficiently and confidently this old-style 2007 cat-and-mouse mystery crime thriller, adding just a little needed style to a potboiler project. The strong casting helps too.

Jon Bokenkamp’s story and Todd Komarnicki’s screenplay hands useful roles to Halle Berry, as the journalist who goes undercover as a newspaper temp to ferret out her childhood friend’s killer, Bruce Willis as the businessman she suspects of the crime, and Giovanni Ribisi as Berry’s helpful friend at the newspaper who has a thing for her.

The actors know they are in a humble potboiler but they put their backs into it and lift it. The story gets a bit improbable and predictable by the end, but that is usual in these kinds of thrillers and does not spoil the entertainment value too much.

It is R rated for sexual content, nudity, some disturbing violent images and strong language.

Foley has a long history of such noir-style projects as the director of At Close Range (1986), After Dark, My Sweet (1990), Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), The Chamber (1996), Fear (1996), Confidence (2003) and Fifty Shades Darker (2017). He also directed  TV’s House of Cards, with Kevin Spacey.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 5142

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