THE PERFECT MAN

REVIEWED BY RISSI C.

Our rating: 4 out of 5

Because of: sensuality, immodesty

Rated:

At the age of sixteen, Holly Hamilton (Hilary Duff) has already lived across half of America due to her mom’s bad taste in men. In all their many homes, her mom Jean (Heather Locklear) will begin to feel desperate, so she’ll begin dating any guy who most of the time will end up being a loser. While living in Wichita, Holly is just starting to make friends and plans to attend a dance, but it isn’t to be as Jean breaks up with her latest boyfriend and that means it’s packing time again. So, they head for Brooklyn, where an old friend has a position at a bakery waiting for Jean.

Arriving at their new apartment, Jean, Holly and little sis’ Zoe (Aria Wallace) start unpacking and making this newest house into a home until mom decides it’s “time for a new adventure.” Starting a new school for the millionth time is just another day for Holly. Right away she meets Amy (Vanessa Lengies), a New Yorker through and through who’s just a little wild, and has an encounter with a cute guy, Adam (Ben Fledman), who likes to draw and seems really nice.  When Amy takes Holly into an upscale Bistro, Holly meets the owner, Amy’s Uncle Ben (Chris Noth) and they overhear him giving a friend romantic advice. When Ben says that flowers always will work, Holly questions it, asking him if he really believes it. Ben tells her that if you really want to impress a woman, buy her an orchid. So with the hope her mom will stay put a little longer if she knew there was a perfect guy out there, Holly buys her an orchid that she signs from a “secret admirer."

As time passes, Holly enlists the help of Amy and Adam to keep up the charade since her mom had been so happy. Basing her “secret admirer” on Ben, Holly begins to correspond with her mom as the “secret admirer." Holly learns some things about her mom that gives her a whole new take on what her mom has done for her and her sister. So caught up is Holly with her plans, she just may miss the fact that the perfect man really does exist! Any chick flick I can find without too many faults is a huge plus, and unfortunately they are becoming few and far between. Watching this again just recently, I noticed a few cheesy things about it that I wished had been done a little differently. Holly and Jean’s emails between one another as “passionate baker” and “Brooklyn boy” are a little corny at times, but they never turn into romance letters, which is something I appreciated. Most the scenes between Adam and Holly are fairly innocent and cute, but sometimes they feel a little awkward as if the actors weren’t quite relaxed.

When I saw this in theaters, it was a film that made me laugh but also brought in a more serious side, having the characters go through a more “troubled” time in order to learn a lesson. With its entertaining cast and cute story, this makes for a decent movie to watch with girls fourteen and up. While it only has a PG rating, there were a few things that should have been left out or done differently. Holly’s clothes are often inappropriate, something shared by her mom and even occasionally her friends. Amy makes a passing remark about Holly’s skin being “virgin” in reference to having no tattoos or piercing; saying “we Brooklyn girls lose our skin virginity by fifth grade." When meeting Holly, Jean's boss remarks that she looks all grown up, with her "speed bumps" and everything. Ben's employee is always fiddling with his hair and prefers the male customers, suggesting he is gay. I found this annoying, as it really didn't need to be in a "family film."

During a visit with Ben, Holly suggests she wants a tattoo on her back, saying it would be so low it wouldn’t even be considered her back; she’s trying to stall him. Holly sets off a fire alarm simply for the purpose of keeping her mom and Ben from seeing one another. Adam brings Holly home several times, where they go to his bedroom in order to write her emails, but that’s all they ever do. Jean was never married, presumably, and we get the impression that Holly and Zoe are only half sisters. Lying is a prevalent theme in this movie. Holly lies to her mother by repeatedly writing, sending gifts and even eventually giving her admirer a name and email. Through this behavior, Holly hurts her mother and makes a big mess of things. Eventually, Holly is forced to tell her mom the truth and I really appreciated that part of the film, as it at first didn’t appear she would have to tell her anything.

The acting was good; the casting department chose well. Chris Noth and Heather Locklear have a nice cehmistry, and the younger actors do a fine job. Despite its handful of faults, The Perfect Man is fairly innocent and leaves you with a happy feeling. Two particularly favorite scenes come when Holly puts on some “happy music” and she, her mom and Zoe dance around the room; it sweetly depicts a mother's love for her daughters. The other comes about five minutes before the story ends and has Jean working in a bakery helping a surprise customer. If you are a fan of cutesy movies or any of the cast, you’ll probably enjoy this comic tale with some well learned lessons.