Fact-based drama about a con man who poses as the renowned actor Sidney Poitier’s son to make his way up the ladder of New York society, where he finds plenty of opportunities to exploit the rich and gullible.
As an alien-chaser in Independence Day(1996) and Men in Black(1997), Will Smith served notice on Eddie Murphy that he was the new, smarter, cheekier black kid on the block. But, with this earlier bourgeois satire, he had already displayed the talents that were to elevate him to the superstar stratosphere.
As Paul, the young man who talks his way into the rich New York household of liberal-minded art dealer Flan Kittredge (Donald Sutherland) and his wife Ouisa (Stockard Channing) by pretending to be the friend of their student children, Smith is as busy as a gadfly.
John Guare has perhaps been too careful in transferring his play to the screen and Fred Schepisi’s direction is too safe for a real sarcastic sting, but Smith’s performance shines above these limitations, transcending the too-glib spelling-out of the gulf between integrity and hypocrisy.
Ouisa Kittredge
Stockard Channing Paul
Will Smith Flan Kittredge
Donald Sutherland Geoffrey
Ian McKellen Kitty
Mary Beth Hurt Larkin
Bruce Davison Doctor Fine
Richard Masur Trent
Anthony Michael Hall Elizabeth
Heather Graham Rick
Eric Thal
Director
Fred Schepisi
Video
Related Posts
Michael Collins (1997) 1916: Michael Collins is a young Irish volunteer whose participation in the Easter Uprising fuels his desire to see Ireland…
Dead Man (1995) Offbeat Western starring Johnny Depp as penniless sissy Ohio accountant William Blake who arrives in the lawless Wild West town…
Philadelphia (1993) Tom Hanks, in the most artistically challenging and physically and emotionally punishing role of his career, plays Andy Beckett, a…
Jacob's Ladder (1990) Jacob’s Ladder is a horror movie as an ethereal journey. Most of the film takes place in the spiritual world…
American History X (1998) Derek Vinyard (Edward Norton), a neo-Nazi skinhead and white supremacist recently released from three years in jail for shooting two…
Don Juan DeMarco (1994) Well-respected psychiatrist Dr Jack Mickler (Marlon Brando) is only 10 days away from his retirement. A week before he is…
Independence Day (1996) Three-dozen alien saucers descend from space and take up positions over cities around the globe. US President Thomas J. Whitmore…
Doctor Dolittle (1998) This fantasy comedy update of the 1967 musical starred Eddie Murphy as San Francisco doctor John Dolittle, whose life is turned…
As an alien-chaser in Independence Day (1996) and Men in Black (1997), Will Smith served notice on Eddie Murphy that he was the new, smarter, cheekier black kid on the block. But, with this earlier bourgeois satire, he had already displayed the talents that were to elevate him to the superstar stratosphere.
Ouisa Kittredge
