Six Degrees of Separation MPAA Rating: R Entertainment: +2 1/2 Content: -3

Art dealers, Ouisa and Flanders Kitridge (Donald Sutherland, Stockard Channing), are visited one night in their New York City penthouse by a stranger named Paul (Will Smith). Under the guise of being stabbed and mugged in Central Park, he is welcomed into their home. He claims to be the son of Sidney Poitier and a school chum of their children. His credibility is established when he knows intimate details about their lives. The Kitridges are charmed by an evening of Paul's storytelling and a home cooked gourmet meal. They offer their spare bed to him for a night. Ousia is horrified the next morning when she finds Paul in the middle of homosexual intercourse with a hustler. Ousia and Flan scurry the naked pair out of their suite, but not out of their lives. Soon they find out that this young man is frequenting homes of other prominent figures in the city and winning their hospitality as well. Paul becomes the center of the Kitridge's social conversation as their connections with him become more bizarre. Adapted from a stage play and based on a true story, the film drowns in a maze of thematic vagueness and homosexuality.

While SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION contains outstanding dialogue and acting, the overt homosexuality elements are unforgivably offensive. Scenes include frontal male nudity and the promotion of homosexuality as an alternative experience. Equally alarming are the philosophical conclusions of this high culture film. Secular humanism abounds as audiences are exhorted to carve out their own happiness using the SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION formula. Theoretically, if one explores enough different experiences or people, then eventually the seeker will stumble upon happiness. All they find, however, is misery, loneliness or death. All these theories are expressed using many obscenities and regular profanities. The exaggerated symbolism and immorality leave the viewer wondering what all the fuss is about.

Preview Reviewer: Krista Kay Bontrager
Distributor: MGM/UA Dist., 11111 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90025