BEFORE: Well, nobody knows more about the six degrees than I do. That's all I do is look for the connections between people. Though I once heard it was really two degrees, that you could pick any two people and Person A would know somebody who would know somebody who would know Person B. Six probably seems more likely, though. Linking from "Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood", Vivica A. Fox was also in "Independence Day" with Will Smith (last seen in "The Legend of Bagger Vance")
THE PLOT: An affluent New York couple find their lives touched, intruded upon, and compelled by a mysterious young black man who is never quite who he says he is.
AFTER: Meh, I'm ambivalent on this one. It's interesting to see someone hustle the upper crust of New York society, but I'm having trouble seeing the point. What's the message here? The hustler who lies to them and pretends to be the son of a very famous actor gains access to their apartments and works his way into their lives, but he doesn't steal anything. So why did he do it? I don't feel like I was given much insight into his personality or his motivations.
Likewise, I see the point in linking actors - and don't believe what you read about the origins of the "Kevin Bacon" game, I played a version of it in film school long before its "inventors" took credit for it, only it was called "The Coppola Connection" at the time. But I don't see the point in picking two random people on the globe and connecting them - why would anyone even want to do this? It's just an exercise in probability, people. And even though this "fact" is brought up during this film, it doesn't even have any direct bearing on the plot.
Sure, there are some coincidences - but those must happen all the time, and we're just not aware of them. We the audience are in a position to see them, like when the other couple comes out of the roller rink, but again, so what? Am I missing some profound point here?
Will Smith's character FORCED the connection - he learned details of rich people's lives, and then exploited them. So, where does the mathematical principle fit in, then?
Also starring Donald Sutherland (last seen in "Reign Over Me"), Stockard Channing (last seen in "Life or Something Like It"), Ian McKellen (last seen in "The Wolverine"), Bruce Davison (last seen in "The Crucible"), Mary Beth Hurt (last seen in "Autumn in New York"), Richard Masur (last seen in "Under Fire"), Anthony Michael Hall (last seen in "The Breakfast Club"), Heather Graham (last seen in "Anger Management"), Daniel von Bargen (last seen in "Crimson Tide").
RATING: 5 out of 10 Kandinskys
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