The Perfect Man

Lights, camera, movie review. Last night I had the opportunity to view an advance screening of “The Perfect Man,” which stars Hilary Duff, Heather Locklear and Chris Noth. Knowing nothing about this movie, I originally ignored the preview invitation as too frivolous. Upon announcing said action at home I was immediately accosted by my wife and daughter with cries of “hey, that’s our kind of movie.” A little homework revealed that it actually looked like a cute flick and I should give it a chance. So, in the immortal words of Stromboli, I proclaimed, “off to the theater.

“The Perfect Man” is the story of a single mom, played by Heather Locklear, struggling to raise two daughters on her own. The catch is that she’s so desperate to find a husband and settle down that she keeps settling for men who end up letting her down. Her quirky coping mechanism is that when those relationships inevitably fail she always moves the family to a new town to start over. In order to avoid the next move her sixteen year old daughter, played by Hilary Duff, invents an imaginary secret admirer, eventually played by Chris Noth, to cheer her mom up and prevent another move. Naturally, one little white lie leads to another until the entire situation gets completely out of hand. Even though Locklear plays the mother Hilary Duff is really the star and handles her role well enough. Yet, the plot is a little contrived at times and there are moments when the quality of dialogue leaves something to be desired. Nonetheless, while “The Perfect Man” isn’t likely to garner any Oscar nominations, it’s still a fun romp and offers the full roller coaster of emotions we’d expect from a good romantic comedy. Note that since the plot tends to focus more on Hilary Duff, the appeal for this particular story leans towards the teen audience. It’s still a great date-night movie and clean enough for the whole family. In fact, there is absolutely no sex, violence or profanity so this one gets the family friendly seal of approval. I believe folks will generally enjoy it and that it will perform well in the rental market once it comes out on video. Again, the Academy won’t take a second look at “The Perfect Man,” but it delivers all the love and laughs that it promises … and that’s perfect enough.
For more info visit www.theperfectmanmovie.com