Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
The story of a young, gay, black, con artist who, posing as the son of Sidney Poitier, cunningly maneuvers his way into the lives of a white, upper-class New York family.
Based on John Guare's acclaimed stage play, Six Degrees of Separation is a sharp, witty dissection of class, race, identity, and liberal white guilt in Manhattan. Will Smith delivers a revelatory dramatic performance as Paul, matching the stage veterans Stockard Channing and Donald Sutherland. The premise is genuinely audacious — a con man who sells these wealthy people on a fabricated identity and forces them to confront their own emptiness. Channing in particular is extraordinary, carrying the film's moral weight with tremendous nuance. The cinematography is competent but relatively stagey, reflecting its theatrical origins without transcending them. The ending, however, dissipates rather than resolves — the film struggles to fully convert its theatrical climax into cinematic satisfaction, leaving the audience with a somewhat deflating conclusion that doesn't match the energy of what preceded it.