Perfect Strangers

I disagree with the previous comment. The movie possesses enough drama and suspense to keep the viewers interested until the very end. This is the story of two people who could have been happy together under different circumstances. It's also the story of what happens when people make the wrong choice. The movie asks the question what makes a certain choice the wrong one and points out that every choice could be both right and wrong. The music is well chosen, and the combination between Puccini's opera "Madam Butterfly" and a number of contemporary ballads enhances the atmosphere. The ending is unexpected and leaves the viewer surprised and delighted at the same time.

I rented this while I was staying in NZ and sat down prepared for a love story that turns into something like Fatal Attraction or something. Not at all. I appreciate the plot twists and enjoyed the extreme weirdness. Not horrible but not fantastic either ( in my opinion.

All in all I think the acting was pretty believable, but there are some plot holes (pretty gaping ones actually). However the story is pretty consistent with details from the beginning being carried over through the end.

I will look for movies with the lead actress and this director again in the future.

Enjoyable for those with twisted minds.

I was reminded slightly of a current Australian release, 'Japanese story" which is also largely a two-hander, and has lots of time spent in remote locations. And it too has a fairly major plot twist along the way. But comparisons run out there. Rachael Blake is just as fine an actress as Toni Collette, but what she has to do here seems quite ludicrous. I get concerned when people begin to talk to whitegoods, for instance. You might find that at one point you think, where can this film go from here? And I don't think that question is resolved at all. The second half of the film in particular gets more and more bizarre and kooky, and even at the end I think many people would say "huh?'. Sam Neill was OK too, but I can't for the life of me think what possessed him to do this film. As a student film it would be acceptable, but not as a general release.

Saw Perfect Strangers at the Vancouver Film Fest, September 30, 2003. Well made, and thouroughly engaging movie that suprises at many turns. The simple story of a working class woman who goes home from a bar with an interesting stranger becomes first a story of kidnapping but then moves to a more complex story of love, obsession, and fear.

As with many foreign films, Pefect Strangers is not afraid to mix fantasy with reality. And, it helps to have excellent direction, music, and above all acting by the two leads.

I recommend this film if you get a chance to see it, or eventually rent it.

I borrowed this film on video knowing only that it might be good because of Sam Neill. The other actors were not well known, at least,to me. I liked this film very much because I watched the film unfold not knowing what's going to happen next. There were no obvious 'surprises,' which is why I think this film is clever. Rachael Blake was fantastic in this film. It is really her story. The film had the elements of a fine Hitchcock movie –- surprises are really unpredictable, not 'put-on unpredictable' as some films of the same genre tend to be. One might think because the jacket write-up talked about a woman going out with a stranger purposely knowing it to be a one-night stand that the film would be full of steamy sex scenes. Wrong. The one love scene with the 'ghost' Sam Neill actually was tender. This is the essence of the story – the strangeness of relationships. I don't understand why other reviewers 'didn't get it'. This is not a literal film that expects the audience to think that the story is based on reality. It is not. But it touches on human nature. Before some of you misunderstand me, I said 'literal' not 'literate,' which is an entirely different word. The film is very well edited, not slow, as far as I am concerned. 'Lost in Translation' and 'Girl with a Pearl Earring' are painfully slow films and it's only hype that made them known to the public. 'Cold Mountain' was unbearably slow. I didn't get to Renee Zelwegger's part – I gave up not even half-way through the film. 'Perfect Strangers' intrigued me and it deserves to be seen. It is not about looniness. It is about the narrowness of the line between sanity and insanity. Acting, editing, direction and photography were top-notch. Go see it. It will make you think. Some may think the ending is macabre, but if you view this film as an allegory, you will better appreciate the story. Just be sure you understand that the 2 main characters never really had a sexual relationship. It is all in the mind. C'mon, people, be literate, not literal and you'll enjoy this movie. The irony of this movie is that the 'villain' Sam Neill turns out to be of tender heart and the 'tough' Rachael Blake really a vulnerable woman.