Six Degrees of Separation

Am I the only one losing my mind over the fact that nobody from this movie stars in a film with Kevin Bacon?

This film adaptation of John Guare's very successful play (loosely based on a true story) is extremely theatrical in the best fashion. Guare wrote the screenplay and the actors seem to really revel in the superb dialogue, giving performances that are somewhat mannered and very theatrical without seeming wildly unrealistic. It's an extremely funny film in a fairly dry, satirical fashion. J.J. Abrams pops up as the extremely angry son on Richard Masur.

Great concept but this film is let down by its first half. Complete over-acting (this is a film now, not a play - the camera picks up everything), oddly-delivered dialogue, and the children were so irritating. They're supposed to be in Harvard U yet shrilly act like they're in Dawson's Creek. By the second half, it calms down, realises it is a film, and starts to become a good one at that. The last half hour is definitely the best.

Excellent film version of a thoughtful. well-written John Guare play. Stockard Channing is excellent, and Will Smith gives what I believe is still his finest performance.

The editing keeps the audience on its toes, but it's a confusing, waspy, unlikeable, and odd little movie.

This movie left me confused. I dont know what to think. I think i liked it? But also i dont.

Will Smith is pretty damn good in this, the rest of the movie is pretty damn clunky.

Will Smith is okay in this, but it just drags on and on. Total waste of Ian McKellan's talent, and Donald Sutherland's role isn't particularly interesting here either. A rather dull story makes for a rather dull film.

Crappy ending.

Definitely missing a certain I-don't-know-what. The premise, a young black man cons a rich white couple into believing that he is the son of Sidney Poitier who is filming a screen version of Cats, should register as more zany and cutting than it does. As a provocation, its seems like just one more of the Smith character's manipulations to ingratiate to the rich white people. Like a genteel version of the "Be Black Baby" segment of DePalma's HI MOM? Not sure what we're supposed to do with that.

Smith gives one of his better performances in an uneven cast. Reflects on the movie as it proves it can be a good watch but other times its just slow and dry. Decent.

Nice to see a non-egotripping, more timid Will Smith. The point of the (nice and original) story could have been 'thicker' (although the finesse might please some people)

Smith gives a promising performance, and he's the only member of this solid cast that manages to rise above the contrived and overly melodramatic script. The stilted dialogue feels false, and the family dynamics on display here actually offended me. Any time the movie brought in the "kids off at college" my eyes rolled out of my head. I love JJ Abrams (and he even sneaks in a Greg Grunberg reference!), but he does not acquit himself well as an actor. He's downright horrible.

Fascinating, original drama. Yes, Will Smith was a really promising actor before he became a huge star :-)

Universal truth: Stockard Channing is astonishing. Her presence makes the half-baked ideas presented in this play almost seem profound. Contains the best capsule review of "Cats" EVER. Generally excellent cast, though WIll Smith...bless his heart. Perhaps he learned something from his colleagues.

Passes the time, slowly.

While I love the film, jiggy (yet again) brings the whole thing down a notch, which is a pity, 'cos the rest of the cast shines... Toe knee :-)

not bad, not good, just kinda there.

This was rambly and awful. Will Smith was good, but the plot was just piss-poor.

Hey, this isn't bad at all. Will Smith will never be an amazing actor -- I reckon this is about as good as he's ever going to be -- but he is indeed quite good here. At least he doesn't cock it up. The story isn't quite as profound as it would like to be, but it does provoke some thoughts.