Review of 'PERFECT STRANGER'

PERFECT STRANGER

ROWENA PRICE is an investigative reporter who has just learned that an apparently homophobic senator is gay. Her boss won't let her print the story so, frustrated, she quits her job. A childhood friend, GRACE, appears and gives her a lead to another juicy story, this time about the sexual misdeeds of a hot-shot ad executive, HARRISON HILL. Grace turns up dead soon afterwards. Rowena, with the help of MILES, a computer whiz who wants to sleep with her, gets a job as a temp in Harrison's agency and follows a trail of clues that point to Harrison being the murderer of Grace. Harrison has a history of violence towards those who have betrayed him, and when he learns Rowena has been spying on him, he is not happy, to say the least.

Halle Berry as Rowena evokes your interest from the beginning.  You care about her and what to know what will happen. Bruce Willis as Harrison is nicely slimy, which is appropriate for his pro-gun stance. I do question the motivation for one of the main character's actions, but in general, the plot and characters are realistic and suck you in. The music fits in well with the story.

The ending was not what I expected. No spoilers, but the plot twists at the end (more than one) surprised me. Kudos to the writer and director. However, I do think the very last scene, only about ten seconds, would have been better off cut.  If you see the movie, let me know if you agree.

This is a well done, nicely suspenseful film, worth seeing both for its own sake and as a workout movie.  I give it a ++++ - it will get your pulse up to a run. If you see it, let me know what you think.