Rating:

It's generally good for a thriller to keep you guessing. But not so with ''Perfect Stranger,” a awkwardly convoluted mystery with more twists than a Chubby Checker hit.

It was directed by James Foley, who's capable of making great movies (''At Close Range,” ''Glengarry Glen Ross,” ''After Dark, My Sweet”) and really bad ones (the early Madonna vehicle ''Who's That Girl?”). ''Perfect Stranger,” starring Halle Berry and Bruce Willis, falls into the latter category.

The good news is it's fascinatingly, entertainingly bad. I can't say that it ever made me care who did what to whom - it's much too ridiculous to have that effect - but I kept watching with interest. It's not every day a film delivers a story this ludicrous, dialogue this pretentious, acting this over the top.

Berry plays investigative journalist Rowena Price, whose weak-willed editors kill a story in which she's nailed a Republican congressman for inappropriate conduct with his male pages. She quits in a huff.

(Right here, let me say, it becomes quite clear that nobody associated with this movie had any idea - or desire to show - how journalists work. Rowena - or, Ro, as she's called - presents the information to the congressman as if she's a prosecutor playing it up for the jury rather than a reporter presenting facts and asking for a response. And that's just one of many instances of scenes that reveal a cluelessness about journalism.)

Almost immediately, Ro becomes involved in a different type of investigation. An old acquaintance, Grace (Nicki Aycox), approaches her in a subway station and tells her about an affair she's having with married, womanizing advertising executive Harrison Hill (Willis). Next thing you know, Grace turns up dead.

So, despite not having an employer, Ro goes undercover by taking a low-level job at Hill's agency. She's aided by her colleague and buddy Miles (Giovanni Ribisi), who practically drools every time she's in the room and is clearly frustrated that he's not in consideration for the role of Ro's boyfriend. Miles is a computer geek who's able to help Ro from his keyboard while she does all the dirty work of flirting with Hill and letting him try to seduce her.

It's around this point that the red herrings come floating in every 10 minutes or so, with ''Perfect Stranger” going from a catch-the-killer thriller to a whodunit to a you've-gotta-be-kidding-me twist fest.

Meanwhile, we're also treated to dreadful dialogue like ''That's a motive on a big stick” and, in reference to a woman having trouble conceiving, ''I think her oven's on the fritz”; the kind of overacting one might find in a silent film (you can almost hear director Foley say to Berry: ''You're surprised; open your eyes really wide!” or ''You're angry - yell!”); and lots and lots of shots of the sexily attired Berry, front and back, as if Foley realized early on that, with this material, he'd better focus, literally, on his seductive star's assets.

Tim Miller is the Times' entertainment editor. He can be reached at 508-862-1140 or tmiller@capecodonline.com

RATING SCALE: Four stars (best) to bomb (worst)
RATING: R (for sexual content, nudity, some disturbing and violent images and language)
RUNNING TIME: 109 minutes