Six Degrees of Separation (1993)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Fred Schepisi

Writers (WGA):

John Guare (play)
John Guare (screenplay)

Release Date:

8 December 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery

Tagline:

For Paul, every person is a new door to a new world.

Plot:

Flan and Ouisa Kittredge, rich NYC art dealers, are called on one night by a young man, Paul, who professes to be a friend of their kids' from Harvard...

Plot Keywords:

Art Dealer | Art | Rich | New York | Business

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Stockard Channing	...	Louisa ('Ouisa') Kittredge
Will Smith	...	Paul
Donald Sutherland	...	John Flanders ('Flan') Kittredge
Ian McKellen	...	Geoffrey Miller
Mary Beth Hurt	...	Kitty
Bruce Davison	...	Larkin
Richard Masur	...	Dr. Fine
Anthony Michael Hall	...	Trent Conway
Heather Graham	...	Elizabeth
Eric Thal	...	Rick
Anthony Rapp	...	Ben
Oz Perkins	...	Woodrow ('Woody') Kittredge (as Osgood Perkins)
Catherine Kellner	...	Talbot ('Tess') Kittredge
J.J. Abrams	...	Doug (as Jeffrey Abrams)
Joe Pentangelo	...	Police officer

MPAA:

Rated R for language and some sexuality.

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:18A (Ontario) | Canada:G (Québec) | Germany:6 | Spain:13 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Bronxville, New York, USA

Company:

Maiden Movies

Trivia:

When Paul (Will Smith) is talking about his thesis, he mocks the Lord of the Rings books. Geoffrey, who is listening to him, is played by 'Ian McKellan', who almost a decade later played Gandolf in the Lord of the Rings films.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When Flan is pretending to pray next to Ouisa, the boom mic and operator are reflected in the large window behind them.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Flan: My God!
Ouisa: Is anything gone?
Flan: How can I look, I'm shaking!
Ouisa: I want to know if anything's gone!
Flan: Calm down.
Ouisa: We could have been killed! Oh, my God! The Kandinsky!
Flan: The Kandinsky!
Ouisa: It's gone, oh my God! Call the police!
Flan: Oh, no, there it is. Oh! The silver Victorian inkwell!
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Nanny: The Yummy Mummy (#6.13)" (1999)

Soundtrack:

THE VERY THOUGHT OF YOU

John Guare's Children

A writer at the centre of one of the most elegant, entertaining, thoughtful and soulful tales to come out of Hollywood in a long, long time. John Guare's children are based , it seems, in real life people. How lucky for Guare to have found the great Fred Schepsi as their perfect foster father. Will Smith plays a man without identity, choosing one for himself, with such care, with such gusto that everyone remains enthralled, first of all us, the audience. Stockard Channing's Ouisa discovers a new side to her own self in front of our eyes. It is a performance of guts and beauty. Donald Sutherland's Flan is a first for the movies, we've never met a character like him on the screen. The scene in which he listens to Will Smith's Paul explain his thesis is a triumph. We see Flan falling in love. It is chillingly beautiful. Then, of course, the aforementioned Will Smith, he moves with a borrowed self confidence, like his character and it's impossible not to love him. He has the elegance of a Cary Grant and the charisma that we all now associate with Will Smith. I only regret that he didn't go for the kiss. That would have completed the shocking sum of all his parts. I love this film. I love John Guare for writing it. I love Schepsi (he's an old love of mine "Cry in Dark" "Plenty") The superb editing, the wonderful tangoish score and the work of the production and costume designers makes "Six Degrees of Separation" one of the most rewarding movie experiences. On this terrible summer of World at Wars, New Batmans and some other horrors, do yourself a favour. Rent the DVD and stay for dinner at home with the Kittredges.