Titreenp SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

SeeQuant Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Scotty Burke It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

vincentlynch-moonoi This film is close to being brilliant. It is a totally unique film. And to top it off, a first class performance by Will Smith in what I would call his breakthrough film.Smith plays a young Black man who works his way into the lives of a number of people in New York City. Mostly his "victims" are the rich and successful, although one young couple befriends him, which ends in the death of the young man from suicide. In all cases, Smith's liaisons are designed to make him money. But later in the film you begin to realize he's not just a con artist; he's a deeply needy young man who lives in sort of a fantasy world. He wants all the good things in life, but only really sees his way free to get those things through hustling.However, it's not just Smith's performance that stands out here. The primary couple that he "befriends" are brilliantly played by Donald Sutherland and Stockard Channing (certainly her best role). They're a totally absorbed rich couple who have no sense of realism beyond their own art-filled world of the rich.ing roles are played by Ian McKellen (who coincidentally has one line where he mentions "The Lord Of The Rings" nearly a decade before that film series was filmed), Bruce Davison, and Richard Masur. There's not a bad performance in the film.My only disappointment in the film is that in the end we don't know if Will Smith's character is alive or dead.Highly recommended.

SnoopyStyle Ouisa (Stockard Channing) and Flan Kittredge (Donald Sutherland) are upper class Fifth Avenue NYC private art dealers. Their prized possession is a two-sided Kandinsky. They recount the story of their dinner with wealthy South African investor Geoffrey Miller (Ian McKellen) to a growing crowd. Paul (Will Smith) interrupts the dinner showing up at their door claiming to have been robbed in Central Park. He supposedly is studying at Harvard with their kids Talbot and Woody and is the son of Sidney Poitier. All the while, he is shown practicing his con. Then they catch him in bed with Rick (Eric Thal) and they kick him out. However Miller wants to connect with Sidney Poitier. Then their friends Kitty (Mary Beth Hurt) and Larkin (Bruce Davison) come to them with the same story. They find Dr. Fine (Richard Masur) with a familiar encounter. The kids find out that it's their high school classmate Trent Conway (Anthony Michael Hall).It's an eye-opening performance from Will Smith and it's actually one of his best. He's being the slick performer and it's playing up his natural charisma. It is probably one of his most daring character and one which he has not gone beyond. I do wish he takes some chances in non-conventional roles to expand his repertoire. Channing and Sutherland are also terrific. It's sharp social commentary. On a minor note, J.J. Abrams overacts a bit as Dr. Fine's crazed son. His ridiculousness is somewhat funny. The kids generally yell and overact too much.

nitramd2000 i voted this film very highly, an 8 to be exact. i might be the only one that thought Will Smith did a fine job within this movie. His character rehearsed his lines, therefore sounding rehearsed. So that robotic argument is virtually out the window, considering that's what his character was to be and sound like. Did anyone write about the possibility of Paul having any mental illness? It seems like people missed that the character of "Paul" needed mental help and that is one main reason louisa or oisa or whatever her name was felt for the kid. She was also impressed with his ability to learn so much and be able to change his way of speech and become so articulate in a matter of just 3 months. Personally, i cant think of a movie i've seen where i thought Donald Sutherland ever did a bad job either. I will agree with one thing though, the acting of the "kids" of each family was god awful.

rightwingisevil This is a disgusting movie with so many phony hypocrites in it. If you treat it as a social satire but in reality, you just couldn't find so many disgusting human beings in one city. If New York was targeted as the hypocrites center of the universe as the movie itself described, then you must keep away from this cesspool of phonies. I just couldn't hang on to watch this movie, because almost in any moment I might puke. The characters were so disgusting, so exaggerated, so dramatically ballooned into so self-important pretentious. If rich people could become so disgustingly inhuman, then I'd rather stay in poverty. At first, I thought this movie was with a touch of Woody Allen's movies, but then I've found out this was a totally different beast, a twisted and mutant interpretation of the rich and the rich wannabes. The dialog was just so over-the-top pretentious and obnoxious that hurt every nerve of my hearing. Could be people become so pathetic that they would have to sit down or stand around to listen to the crap of the couple and the phony young guy played by Will Smith? Who would be so stupid to suffer such torment crap out by these people?This movie is a complete ridiculous joke!