Giovanni Ribisi & Perfect Stranger

'Perfect Stranger' was rated only two out of five stars by SMH. Not that I'm interested in proving critics wrong (although at times they do appear to be brain damaged, ie the time when they gave out spoilers), rather, the sole focus of my attention and renting this film was Giovanni Ribisi.

In Perfect Stranger Giovanni Ribisi played Halle Berry’s sidekick, a computer whiz with a crush on her. The film wasn’t as bad as I thought, probably because I was prepared for the worst and it’s more suitable for DVD instead of the big screen. The online flirting parts were heavily criticized as too boring and lengthy. They lacked creativity, but was OK (or maybe because I fast-forwarded).

However, I must say there’s a few seconds of eye candy--Giovanni’s six packs--which instantly won the film another 2 stars.


The first time I saw Giovanni Ribisi was ‘Gone in Sixty Seconds’, in which he played the useless, bearded brother of Nicholas Cage. However, I did not realise this until I watched ‘Suburbia’ on HBO and searched IMDB for his filmography last year. Some other films he had worked on were: The rookie stock trader in ‘Boiler Room’ (in which he starred), medic in ‘Saving Private Ryan’, bleach-blond aeroplane designer in ‘Flight of the Phoenix’(2004), 'The Gift', and 'Heaven' (both co-starring Cate Blanchett)…etc.

Despite his Scientology believes, and somewhat whiny voice and unconvincing performances at times (eg Flight of the Phoenix, but it was a disaster anyway, no pun intended), he is still an under-rated actor. I highly recommend Suburbia, The Gift, and Tenth and the Wolf for anyone interested.

In (a weak) conclusion, I must blame my excess admiration for idols on my horoscope. Being an Aquarius is not my fault. At least I am too distracted by liking so many idols that I won’t go into the extreme of doing something crazy, i.e. stalking (although I would probably do it to Hoshino Aki if I live in Japan).
(Picture from Google Almighty.)