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Though it betrays its theatrical roots, Six Degrees of Separation largely succeeds thanks to astute direction and fine performances -- particularly from an against-type Will Smith. Read critic reviews
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Six Degrees of Separation videos
Six Degrees of Separation: Official Clip - I Loved That Shirt!
Six Degrees of Separation: Official Clip - We'll Have a Wonderful Life
Six Degrees of Separation: Official Clip - I Was Mugged
Six Degrees of Separation: Official Clip - Paul Seduces Rick
Six Degrees of Separation: Official Clip - A Terrible Match
Six Degrees of Separation: Official Clip - Chaos, Control
Six Degrees of Separation: Official Clip - Stripping for Info
Six Degrees of Separation: Official Clip - A Painter Losing a Painting
Six Degrees of Separation: Official Clip - The Worst Kind of Yellowness
Six Degrees of Separation: Official Clip - Six Degrees of Separation
Six Degrees of Separation: Official Clip - The Life of Sidney Poitier
Six Degrees of Separation: Official Clip - Everybody's a Phony
Six Degrees of Separation Photos
Movie Info
Privileged art dealers Flan (Donald Sutherland) and Ouisa (Stockard Channing) are hosting a dinner party when Paul (Will Smith), a blood-soaked young man, arrives on their doorstep. He claims to be a friend of their Ivy League children, and charms his way into the house. But when the couple discover the truth about Paul and his real identity, they kick him out. As the couple trades stories with their friends about Paul, his presence proves surprisingly hard to shake.
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Rating: R
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Genre: Drama
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Original Language: English
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Director: Fred Schepisi
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Producer: Arnon Milchan, Fred Schepisi
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Writer: John Guare
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Release Date (Theaters): wide
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Release Date (Streaming):
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Box Office (Gross USA): $6.3M
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Runtime:
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Distributor: Argentina Video Home, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Distributing Corp.
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Production Co: Metro Goldwyn Mayer, Maiden Movies
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Sound Mix: Surround, Stereo
Cast & Crew
News & Interviews for Six Degrees of Separation
Critic Reviews for Six Degrees of Separation
Audience Reviews for Six Degrees of Separation
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In an interesting dream scenario, rich, upper Eastside New Yorkers have their guilt about racial inequality expunged by a run-in with streetwise Will Smith (who incredibly learns to fake a Harvard-worthy education in 3, count'em, 3 weeks!). Sutherland and Channing do well for this off-to-see-the-wizard roadtrip, merely bouncing off one another as they relate to the wine and cheese set what it was like to bump against one of the (shiver!) great unwashed. You don't hear about this fantasy much because of the rarified clientele it kowtows to. Still, everyone does their job, even if the story never leaves the environs of 34 floors above Central Park. The dripping, well intentioned liberalism nearly drowns, however clever, however manipulative. Worth seeing though, if only for the brief treatise on Catcher In The Rye, engagingly delivered by Smith.
kevin w Super Reviewer -
It was a clever piece and Will Smith did a pretty good job. However, I think it is better as a play than as a film.
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Will Smith's first test of his ability to actually act..and he passes as a wonderful con artist. A good if not great tale.
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Six Degrees of Separation is one in a long line of 90s film adaptations of a stage play, centering around a young man, played by Will Smith, who enters the lives of two socialites, both confounding and informing the people he crosses paths with. It's a very unique film, though not entirely successful. That the film is based on a theatrical play is evident throughout. It's very talky, and completely dialogue-driven. If done correctly, this can be work, but if done poorly, it can be a disaster. Six Degrees of Separation manages to give the script a cinematic flavor, changing up the scenes, keeping the story kinetic, but still has a stylistic and affected dialogue which is simply not befitting of a film drama. The acting seems fine, but the lines the characters have to deliver never quite feel true. To be sure, capturing the finer points of modern intellectual discourse is tricky, especially in a comedic format (perhaps they should have consulted with Woody Allen), but doing so properly is essential. Thus, the film never fully makes the transition from theater to film, many of the situations simply feel more at home in an art house, not a movie. The story itself is undeniably intriguing, however. What I appreciated most was how the film incorporated all of the characters, and weaved a story that connected all of them, yet not in an obvious or melodramatic way. Instead, the film weaved the narrative such that we are painted a portrait of New York socialite life, while also taking the time to give some social commentary (albeit a little on-the-nose). The humor is inconsistent, but also undeniable at times. The exact tone of the film can be a bit unnerving, in that we're never quite sure if it's being tongue-in-cheek, or unabashedly preachy. This can certainly be considered a failing, as the film seems lost in itself often times, a bit too bogged down on its own cleverness. With its theatrical roots, it certainly isn't for everyone, but interesting enough to give it merit. 3/5 Stars
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