Six Degrees of Separation (1993)

Six Degrees of Separation is a 1993 American comedy-drama film directed by Fred Schepisi and based on John Guare's Pulitzer Prize-nominated 1990 play of the same name.

The plot of the film was inspired by the true story of David Hampton, a con man and robber who convinced a number of people in the 1980s that he was the son of actor Sidney Poitier. Hampton paid a visit to Inger McCabe Elliott's and her husband Osborn Elliott's New York apartment in October 1983, and they allowed him to spend the night. The next morning, Inger discovered Hampton in bed with another man and called the police. The Elliotts told their friend, writer John Guare, the story, which inspired him to write the play years later.

Smith had only recently emerged from his Fresh Prince phase when he found his most substantial and satisfying success in director Fred Schepisi's film adaptation of John Guare's play. Smith plays a charming Mr. Ripley figure, a young man who connives his way into the lives of two wealthy high-society types, played by Stockard Channing and Donald Sutherland, by claiming to be Sidney Poitier's son and thus cunningly and tacitly playing on their liberal white guilt about race. Smith's performance is both charismatic and unsettling; it remains his masterpiece.

Detailed information:

Directed by: Fred Schepisi

Release date: December 8, 1993
Running time: 112 minutes

Link to watch: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108149