Despite a completely out-of-left-field ending, which is totally unearned and completely unbelievable, the Halle Berry and Bruce Willis sexual thriller Perfect Stranger isn't a total lost cause, and isn't anywhere near as horrendous as you've been led to believe. This should not be construed as a recommendation (it's not), just don't go into watching it thinking you're wasting every single ticking second of your precious movie-viewing time.

Most of the thanks for this dubious achievement can be handed to erstwhile journeyman director James Foley. From Best Seller to At Close Range to Glengarry Glen Ross the filmmaker has shown an assured hand for both drama and thriller, and for a film as laughably written as this one that's not a skill to be frowned upon. Through some dexterous slight of hand and some nice constructive shadings he's able to mask much of the idiocy and keep things fairly intriguing. Even if it isn't anything more than highly preposterous ado about nothing, it can at least be said Foley has done solid job of making sure you stick around long enough to discover that for yourself.

The plot itself is not much better then what you'd find in a late night made-for-cable potboiler. Rowena Price (Berry) is a reporter for a respected New York daily who goes undercover at the public relations firm of Harrison Hill (Willis) after her childhood friend Grace Clayton (Nicki Aycox) is found murdered. With the help of her assistant and computer geek genius Miles Haley (Giovanni Ribisi) she is able to dig deeply into her target's sordid online world, even coming up with her own chat room alias to ensnare him into her complex sexual web.

There's more, but it really isn't worth going into. Willis walks through the movie (in nothing more than a glorified cameo) looking like he's bored out of his mind, while Berry has yet to prove her Oscar for Monster's Ball was nothing more then a once-in-lifetime fluke. Ribisi does what he can and provides the few winning character moments the piece offers, yet his Miles is such an ungodly disgusting disaster the fact that he's actually pretty good here is lost amidst the avalanche of detestable perversity.

Yet, Perfect Stranger is surprisingly easy to watch, especially sitting at home in the comfy confines of your own home. Foley keeps the pace moving like lightning, gliding over the numerous speed bumps in both Jon Bokenkamp's story and Todd Komarnicki's script. The film looks great in Sony's lovely widescreen (2.40:1) presentation, Anastas N. Michos' (Mona Lisa Smile) excellent camerawork looking every bit as glossy and perfect on my television as it did back in April in a movie theater. (The only special feature on this disc is the forgettable featurette “Virtual Lives: The Making of Perfect Stranger” of which I have nothing of important to say.)

Features and the film itself are not enough to make the film worthwhile, of course, but close enough I doubt a person would hate themselves too much if they picked it up for a rental. As for that aforementioned climax, Perfect Stranger really does offer up a doozey. This might be the only picture of the year where I was completely shocked by the outcome. Granted, seeing how this revelation is not explained, or that it doesn't make a lick of sense, the result of the final fade to black isn't so much a riveting surprise as it is a giddily silly hoot.

If a person accepts and falls for the final turn of events they just might decide the picture is a winner. Good for them, but for the rest of us we should at least have the ability to stand back and look at it with a bemused smile. It may be absurd and it might be inane but at least it's different, and considering just how many films look exactly the same nowadays, that's at least one thing (and maybe only thing) Perfect Stranger has going for it.