I just saw this film and would like to comment on those who choose to degrade others' work. This film was a masterpiece.. a flawed masterpiece, but a true work of genius.
The following post goes out to all those people who pay money to see the usual Hollywood blockbuster/Taco Bell combo meal ad, chick-flicks, holiday feel-goods, etc,... If you enjoy these types of "films" (and I use that term with a cringe)that is fine. These films tailor to the masses and sometimes they actually make money.
If this is your cup of tea, then don't try to swallow Stranger and even more importantly don't write one-sided negative reviews about films you should not have bothered watching in the first place. Go see Transformers or Good Luck Chuck.
This is a free country and everybody has a rectum... I mean opinion, but do not criticize your neighbor until you HAVE walked a mile in his moccasins. I wonder if those guys who malign Stranger and other art films like it have ever had the courage or the talent to make their own feature films, get good reviews from top indie film critics like Amy Taubin and John Pierson, or ever struggle to and actually secure distribution for a feature film... I doubt it.
These bitter pills spend most of their time "mouse-ter-bating" at the computer and disparaging other peoples' hard work.
Stranger is an esoteric piece. It takes patience to watch, but if you truly enjoy film as an art form, then you will appreciate the film's deeply layered structure, rich cinematography, and skillful editing.
I've only seen this film once, but I intend on watching it several more times. Stranger is the kind of film that only gets better with repeated viewings, but only if you are an open-minded person who truly understands, respects, and appreciates the art of film and can empathize with the struggle of real artists.
So, if you like the mindless escapism that Hollywood subjects us to then enjoy... that's what it's there for. I enjoy it at times... when I'm drunk.... But, if you like to see films that challenge you, provoke thought, and can be respected on a more artistic level of substance over style, then enjoy Stranger.
Otherwise, enjoy your blockbuster and its Burger King Combo companion.
Cheers! Ollie