'Stranger' storyline fails to reach perfect, plot flaws abound

"Perfect Stranger" is a stranger to the perfect plot.

Director James Foley leads the audience through a twisted maze of revenge and justice as journalist Rowena Price (Halle Berry) seeks the murderer of her childhood friend, Grace.

With the help of her computer genius friend Miles (Giovanni Ribisi), Rowena hunts down the man with whom Grace had an affair - Harrison Hill (Bruce Willis).

The audience believes that Hill, the powerful president of an advertising company, is the villainous murderer trying to cover up his affair.

He's the sort of man you don't mess with, and if you do, you wind up fired - or as the viewer believes, dead.

But this is where the plot speeds away like an out-of-control train.

The director doesn't give any evidence that Hill might not be the murderer.

Foley almost forces the audience to believe Hill is guilty through his demeanor, but the only thing Hill seems guilty of is being creepy.

The biggest plot flaw is the purpose of Miles' character. At the beginning, Miles is a devoted friend with an innocent crush on Rowena.

But then all his dirty laundry comes out, and he suddenly becomes a very creepy stalker with a Rowena shrine in his apartment.

Furthermore, we know that Miles has been tampering with the investigation of Hill. Why? We never find out.

This is the sort of movie that attempts to destroy all preconceived notions viewers have from the beginning but fails to do so.

The director fails to give enough background information on Rowena and Grace for the conclusion to ring true.

He gives too little information too late.

Usually in a "whodunit" film, the director provides some clues or twists so that, in the end, the audience finally understands how the plot comes together.

But with "Perfect Stranger," it's as if the director forgot his knitting needles, and the whole film is a pile of yarn.

If you enjoy mind games with interesting plot twists, this isn't the film for you. Berry and Willis both give powerful performances.

It's just too bad they decided to act in a film with a limp noodle of a plot.