A Matter of Degrees

I've long been aware of the film (and original play) Six Degrees of Separation. (When I was in college, it was a bit of a favorite for acting students to lift monologues from, in fact.) Lots of people are familiar with the concept referenced in the title -- the "small world" theory that posits any person on Earth can be linked directly to every other person through no more than six acquaintances. (And lots of others have heard of the "Kevin Bacon game" that riffs on the idea.) Until recently, I'd never actually watched the film itself.

The movie wisely does not stray far from its roots on the stage. By that I mean that its an intensely dialogue-driven affair. Words fly at you a mile a minute, and it's up to you to maintain rapt attention or risk being lost in the current.

To carry the weight of this finely-crafted text, the movie brings together a rather exceptional cast. Stockard Channing and Donald Sutherland play the married couple spinning this wild story, the former reprising the role she played in the original stage production. They go on a wonderful journey together, carefully hitting every beat along the way that leads to the film's conclusion.

Will Smith portrays the unusual young man that incites the action. This movie came at a time while he was still just the "Fresh Prince of Bel Air," before anyone knew he had any true acting chops whatsoever. And there could be no question that he did after this film. The real nuance of the performance comes in the middle chunk of the film, when you literally see the layers of it -- his character is himself putting on a character.

The cast is rounded out with many other fine actors taking on smaller roles -- some rather against "type" -- including Ian McKellen and Anthony Michael Hall. Two of the more surprising appearances come from Heather Graham (surprising for actually being pretty good) and J.J. Abrams (surprising because he's acting here, even though it is indeed that J.J. Abrams, best known for writing, directing, and creating shows like Alias, Lost, and Fringe).

Another notable plus is the fantastic, though brief, musical score by Jerry Goldsmith -- which I mention in part because I was just praising his work recently. Here he delivers something entirely different, grounded in a passionate tango motif. Again, in the spirit of keeping with a play, the score is sparse, leaving room for all the dialogue. But the 15-20 minutes or so that is there is fantastic.

It is a rather entertaining ride, though not a perfect one. For one thing, most of the twists of the plot seem rather apparent. Perhaps the film isn't necessarily meant to surprise, but in any case, it doesn't. For another, the title seems like a bit of an odd fit. One of the characters does indeed bring up the "small world" theory in dialogue, but it really seems like an odd flight of fancy, purely revealing of her mindset, than it seems much of a commentary on the story itself. To me, anyway; your mileage may vary.

Still, I'd definitely encourage you to take the journey. If you like a brisk and witty tale, you'll find something to like in Six Degrees of Separation. I rate it a B.