Grade: D | If “Perfect Stranger” had centered itself around the danger and guilt of voyeurism, it might have offered a coherent story or message.

However, because it was more interested in making sweet love to the image of Halle Berry and following bad suspense movie cliches, it said nothing at all in too many words.

As a society of voyeurs, we are persistent observers of misery or scandal, receiving gratification while watching the drama unfold from safe and concealed places. If it is only misery and scandal we want, this film should satisfy.

“Perfect Stranger” follows a sexually-ambiguous duo of investigative reporters (Berry and Giovanni Ribisi) through the lies and murder of their sexually-liberated mutual friend at the supposed hands of a sexually-perverted multi-millionaire (Bruce Willis).

There is already a pattern forming, huh?

One of the three main characters is guilty of murder, but the film itself is guilty of not giving us the information needed to understand the outcome, or to even care. Also, the camera is guilty of portraying Berry as an object, and the movie industry is guilty of producing another lackluster suspense movie.

“Perfect Stranger” presents itself as a mediocre suspense film with clearly marked boundaries between good and evil. Berry begins as a superhero, but it is not until the second half of the film that we see the structure, and our expectations, change from what was shown to what is neither presented or inferred until after.

It is only in the last few minutes that the sordid world finally collapses into an unnecessarily complicated mess. I blame the jarring effect on the movie’s being at once too simple and too complicated.

A clever film is one that remains clever even after all the facts are presented. “Perfect Stranger” only keeps the audience guessing because the shock motives are not presented until after the twist. Add to this the unattractive personalities of the characters created, and there is very little reason to watch “Perfect Strangers” a second time.