Too many fans seem to be blown away

Please don't spend money on this.

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Continuing my plan to watch every Will Smith movie in order, I come to Six Degrees Of Separation (1993)Plot In A Paragraph: Based on a true story. An affluent New York couple (Donald Sutherland and Stockard Channinh) find their lives touched, intruded upon, and compelled by a mysterious young man (Will Smith) who is not quite who he says he is.Will Smith totally knocks it out of the park in this movie. He is utterly compelling!! You just can't stop watching him. Changing was nominated for an Oscar for her work here, and personally I think Smith should have been nominated too. He is brilliant. Donald Sutherland is as brilliant as he always is. That comes as no surprise, the surprise was Smith had a performance like this in his locker. Likewise Channing, who I had not seen in anything since Grease. Director Fred Schepi Wanted Meryl Streep, whom he has recently worked with in A Cry In The Dark for the role of Ouisa. However the film could never have been made if Channing hadn't been cast as Ouisa. She starred in the Broadway version, and the playwright, John Guare, stipulated that if the play were adapted to a film, Stockard Channing would have to reprise her role. Without Stockard as Ouisa, the movie was not to be made at all.The supporting cast is great too Ian McKellan, Heather Graham, Anthony Michael Hall and a certain J.J Abrahams.It's probably a bit too artsy and talky for most people here to bother watching. But I found it engrossing though.Despite positive reviews, the movie only grossed $6 million at the domestic box office.

Movie starts as an interesting story. I thought that Pol will rob rich people, and that is why he trained so much. I hoped that he would do some great deceit. but no, as the movie goes along, it become clear that behind it is a story not worth telling. Poor gay guy who only wants to enjoy rich people company, not cool. especially because those rich people are full of them, and not care about lower class, and doing everything not to become. Ending is too poor. Some would say that it leaves it to imagination, but I say that it lacks imagination. 6 stars only because it has great actors that did fine job, and story at first that got me curious. On the second hand, maybe I should put 5 stars, too bad for grades in between, 5,5 is the correct answer. Not totally waste of time, now I know some interesting facts about some things, and of course those 6 degrees of separation :)

"Six Degrees of Separation" is about a rich fifth avenue couple, the Kittredge's, who are conned by a young black man one night and spend the next few weeks finding out as much as they can about this boy. They go around telling the story to everyone they come across and find friends who went through the same experience days before. The movie is very slow moving, with many of the important scenes carried out through endless dialogue and very little else going on. Originally being a stage piece, the heavy dialogue is to be expected; however, the adaptation to screen leaves you wanting a little more. In spite of it's flaws, "Six Degrees of Separation" gives an interesting insight on how superficial lives can be and how we sometimes take what we have for granted.

At one point, in one of the most memorable moments of "Six Degrees of Separation" the rich lady played by Stockard Channing says this: "I read somewhere that everybody on this planet is separated by only six other people. Six degrees of separation between us and everyone else on this planet. The President of the United States, a gondolier in Venice, just fill in the names. I find it A) extremely comforting that we're so close, and B) like Chinese water torture that we're so close because you have to find the right six people to make the right connection... I am bound to everyone on this planet by a trail of six people."In a sudden event that changed her life to the point of realize that we are separated by six other people, before all of this happen 'Ouisa Kittredge and her husband Flan (Donald Sutherland) lived a perfect and wealthy life in all the New York luxe as Art dealers until a injured black man appear on their door claiming to be stabbed while walking near by their house. How did he got there and why did he got there? Because he studies at Harvard along with the Kittredge sons. Paul, this young man (played by Will Smith) is taken by the couple who gets impressed by his eloquence, his mannerisms and knowledge of arts, Kandinsky double paintings and because he happens to be....Sidney Poitier's son! But the world keeps on turning at its usual in Kittredge's house just when they realize that this guy is not what he says he is, after being discovered sleeping with another man in their house. But, after some strange illusion of coincidences the Kittredges along with friends who met this strange man they get desperate to find out who is this guy who seduces everybody and then disappears, taking something with him but at the same time injecting a marvelous and different experience in the lives of all of those rich families.John Guare's play is adapted to the screen with elegance, a funny charm, never ironic or satirical, and a brilliant drama that knows how to be more than just a statement over the empty lives of wealthy persons that becomes interesting when a stranger man appears; it is a look into everyone's lives and the events and things that can changes us in a positive way even though we don't know that it was a good experience in the moment but later there's that click in the head and you say "I get it!". It makes you understand the world around you and change things, experience different things, look in a different perspective. It has the same quality of Pasolini's "Teorema" but it is less dramatical, more positive and funnier!The quality of the performances presented here are at its best: Stockard Channing is amazing reprising his role in the play as the rich woman who entertain her friends with the stories involving Paul; Donald Sutherland is always excellent and competent in all of his roles and this is a great role for him. He really should play more millionaires in films because he has a powerful presence on the screen, charming the viewers even while playing bad guys (which is not the case here). Completing the principal casting we have the young Will Smith dominating in an important role, and one of his best performances of all time. The supporting cast includes Bruce Davison, Mary Beth Hurt, Ian McKellen, Richard Masur, Eric Thal, Heather Graham, J.J. Abrams (way before he creates a series called "6 Degrees" and "LOST") John Cunningham and Kelly Bishop (stars of the original play making a cameo in the film). Fred Schepisi direction is fantastic, and the musical themes composed by Jerry Goldsmith suits the film very well."Six Degrees of Separation" is another case of an excellent but almost forgotten film that many people will never heard of, or never watched. And the strangest thing about this fact is that when of this release it was well received by critics, almost a consensus in brilliant and positive reviews but it didn't live up to be a more recognized film even with nominations for the Oscar and Golden Globe (Best Actress). My theory: lack of home media distribution, lack of exhibition on TV and perhaps some viewers were really shocked with the plot. This film didn't connected with a larger audience, which is sad, but at least it connected the right viewers to see that this is a masterpiece, still relevant to this date. 10/10