She was poised for greatness after winning an Oscar, but has filmed nothing of note in the last five years. Halle Barry needs to stop settling for mediocre scripts with good pay. She got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame while promoting "Perfect Stranger," but that doesn't say much -- they've been handing those things out like candy lately.
"Perfect Stranger" has the makings of a mystery thriller, but falls back on the "Murder, She Wrote"-type ending. It has the cast and workable plot, but the script is severely lacking.
Rowena Price (Berry) makes her living as a top-notch reporter, writing under a male pen name. But her bosses at the newspaper shut down her latest article and she retaliates by quitting. She's found by a childhood friend, Grace (Nicki Aycox), who has a new story to follow. Grace met a powerful man online and they began a relationship in real life, but now he's refusing to acknowledge her existence.
Grace ends up dead just after handing off the information that would bring down the advertising empire of Harrison Hill (Bruce Willis). With the help of computer genius Miles (Giovanni Ribisi), Rowena goes undercover as Katherine Pogue, a temp at Hill's agency. Katherine develops a crush on the boss and Harrison is willing to cheat on his wife for any gorgeous woman.
Rowena believes that Harrison killed Grace and she'll trap him to take away his life source. But the story is more twisted than a girl getting murdered by a psychotic ex-lover she met online.
"Perfect Stranger" takes the cat and mouse game and turns it on its ear, only to realize the mistakes in the story as the movie proceeds to completion. Pop in a few flashbacks referencing a few cryptic messages and, voila, the plot's all sewn up and the movie can end. But a finale like that lacks satisfaction and sophistication.
What's even more dismal is the way the sewing goes about, with a lengthy explanation undoing the beginnings of the movie.
However, that's not to say that every person succumbs to the atrociousness of their scripted roles. Ribisi, as snarky genius and a bit obsessive Miles, steps out from the shadows of his more famous castmates and steals their thunder.
But the movie companies surely got their money's worth from "Perfect Stranger." Talk about product placement. Hill's agency hocks Reebok, Victoria's Secret and Heineken and each gets a significant amount of screen time. It was hard t tell whether this was a movie or a long running commercial.
The title says it all; the movie should remain a "Perfect Stranger."
Originally from Des Plaines, Ill., Heather moved to Milwaukee to earn a B.A. in journalism from Marquette University. With a tongue-twisting last name like Leszczewicz, it's best to go into a career where people don't need to say your name often.
However, she's still sticking to some of her Illinoisan ways (she won't reform when it comes to things like pop, water fountain or ATM), though she's grown to enjoy her time in the Brew City.
Although her journalism career is still budding, Heather has had the chance for some once-in-a-lifetime interviews with celebrities like actor Vince Vaughn and actress Charlize Theron, director Cameron Crowe and singers Ben Kweller and Isaac Hanson of '90s brother boy band Hanson.
Heather's a self-proclaimed workaholic but loves her entertainment. She's a real television and movie fanatic, book nerd, music junkie, coffee addict and pop culture aficionado.
