Perfect Strangers

The Italians are pulling a decent Ace out of their sleeve at the beginning of the year and I dare say already that in the comedy/drama genre this will be hard to beat this year. This is probably the first comedy that is smart, based only on dialogues, without bad words, without teenage humour, without nudity and without awkward situations that I liked ! :D At first I was worried about how the film, set entirely at the table of one dinner between four couples of old friends, would turn out, but the play or the idea is brilliant in itself, that the fun is downright taken care of. The idea of me laying out my cell phone on the table amongst all my friends and any call or text that comes in will be seen by everyone, I probably wouldn't be comfortable with that either.Towards the end the film escalates in such a way that the comedy eventually becomes a nerve-wracking thriller. Very funny, smart, twisted, original and perfect. 100%. (02/17/2017)

Hypocrisy is a trait possessed by almost everyone who dines together in this movie. What seems to be fun at the beginning changes with time into a brutal emotional ride that just doesn’t end. An exemplary premise reflecting the present times where people cannot live without their smartphones and while walking at the sidewalk, they spend more time looking at their screens than that sidewalk. With this dialogue-based movie the Italians did the best they could. (02/11/2018)

A very current subject treated in a very likeable way through a conversational dramedy that can be very urgent at times, but also maintains an evaluative distance through a number of light elements and deliberately exaggerated escalation. The final twist may not be worth thinking about or taking seriously in relation to the overall message, but I really enjoyed the course of the film, got to know the characters very quickly, and it flashed a minimal warning light in my head that I've seen this before somewhere else... 75% (02/19/2017)

I was reminded of the dialogue from the sitcom Black Books: "Do you remember who all was at that dinner?" "I don't. Him and his friends. You know, the sort of people who talk about salad for five hours." Which indirectly captures the problem with Perfect Strangers. I didn't care about the characters. With one bright exception, it's just a bland gathering of upper-middle-class Italian hypocrites whose standard topics are food, drink, vacations, health, and each other's relationships. What then happens to these two-legged Elle catalogues as a result of their own boredom and disenchantment is truly irrelevant. So what can you do with them. Moreover, the whole thing is really just a stage play, with the film format bringing absolutely nothing extra to the table. For a truly bitter tragicomedy that can work formally within the limited space of a single apartment, I'd instead invite you to join the Hajdu family party in It's Not the Time of My Life. (07/28/2017)

Perfect Strangers is an excellent conversational film built on a simple yet original idea escalated by some surprising twists. True, Woody Allen or Roman Polanski would have given it the unique poetics of a great filmmaker, but can’t we do without that? The success of the conventional form is all the more appreciated when it is due “only” to the right cast, brisk pace and striking socially significant moments. The call from the 17-year-old daughter is the emotional, human peak of the film, while the earrings scene is the best moment of the film’s comical side. And there is a nice ending in the style of La La Land. I think an American remake, which would get a rating of about 68% on this website, is more than likely (with Bateman, Sudeikis, Vergara et al?). (05/05/2017)