Six Degrees of Separation (1993)

IMDb plot summary: An affluent New York couple finds their lives touched, intruded upon, and compelled by a mysterious young black man who is never quite who he says he is.
Directed by Fred Schepisi. Starring Stockard Channing, Will Smith, Donald Sutherland, and Ian McKellen.

I wondered in the last few minutes of the movie if this was originally written for the stage (it was), given that some of the dialogue, especially toward the end, feels very theatrical. But unlike most theatre-to-film movies, I love how truly cinematic it is and actually struggle to think how a stage version could be as effective. The rapid cutting between the central story and the endless shallow anecdotal conversations in which our main couple retells their adventure over and over again really lets us see how everything in their lives becomes a story to tell at parties. I found myself fascinated by the cadence of their speech and how firmly it established this high-class art world they subsisted in. It's a tough movie for me to fully wrap my mind around right now, but I think it's going to stick with me, and I was impressed by it.

3.5 stars.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Six Degrees of Separation > Hoosiers
Six Degrees of Separation < Christmas in Connecticut
Six Degrees of Separation > War Horse
Six Degrees of Separation > Barton Fink
Six Degrees of Separation < Morgan
Six Degrees of Separation > The Hidden Fortress
Six Degrees of Separation > American Teen
Six Degrees of Separation > Captains Courageous
Six Degrees of Separation > Mr. Holmes
Six Degrees of Separation > Monsoon Wedding
Six Degrees of Separation < Loins of Punjab Presents

Final spot: #759 out of 2692.