Sketchy Scam

By RICHARD SCHICKEL

"I don't want this to become an anecdote," says Ouisa (Stockard Channing) toward the end of Six Degrees of Separation. Neither did John Guare, adapting his hit play for the movies. But his inspiration was in fact an anecdote -- a true tale about a young black man (here called Paul) who invaded the lives of some well-to-do New Yorkers by passing himself off as a college friend of their children. And though Guare has cleverly reshaped the material for the screen, where it has been directed with elan by Fred Schepisi, the piece is still not much more than a bit of urban folklore -- a newspaper feature story rather than a full-fledged narrative.

Guare has done his best to enlarge on the incident, to provide explanations for the scam's origins and temporary success as well as some ruminations about its larger meaning. He has also provided notable roles for Paul's chief victims: Channing as a woman relishing the drama of the intrusion and Donald Sutherland as her art dealer husband, one of those human vacuum pumps who sucks all the air out of any room he inhabits. As Paul, Will Smith is needy, daring, insinuating.

Separation's true climax comes early, with the children of everyone Paul took in denouncing the parents, as if their charity were a deliberate affront to the younger generation. Here Guare hilariously captures the irate solipsism of overprivileged adolescence. After that, though, he has nowhere to go, except toward liberal piety, which does not suit his rare comic gift. Still, two good acts are rare these days. It's probably ungrateful to expect more.