Six Degrees of Separation

In New York a pair of art dealers, Ouisa and Flan, are entertaining a guest when a young man arrives at the door covered in blood. His name is Paul; he says he is a friend of their children from Harvard, that he has been mugged, and that his father is Sidney Poitier. They let him in, cook for him, let him stay the night. By morning it is clear that none of it is true. The subject is not the con but why the couple who opened their door wanted the story so badly. What happened to Ouisa becomes dinner-party material soon enough, and she catches herself turning a person into an anecdote. The idea in the title is that everyone is linked to everyone else by a chain of six; the film asks whether that chain counts as closeness. Fred Schepisi directed, from John Guare's play. Stockard Channing plays Ouisa, Donald Sutherland plays Flan and Will Smith plays Paul. Guare's play came out of a real case: a young man named David Hampton talked his way into wealthy New York homes in the eighties by claiming to be Poitier's son. One scene was discussed for years. Smith refused to shoot the kiss in the script, following advice from Denzel Washington, and it was salvaged by filming the backs of two heads. Smith later called the decision immature on his part. Who it is for: anyone who likes stage adaptations and sharp writing about class. Who it is not for: anyone looking for cinematic storytelling. The film does not hide its theatrical origin and moves mostly by talk.