Review: The Perfect Man

The Perfect Man

2 ½ Buckets

It was only last summer that I formed an obsession for Hilary Duff, watching her movies and former television show, “Lizzie McGuire”, rather religiously. Unfortunately, her terrific performance in fall’s Raise Your Voice was not done justice by the rest of the movie, and I was left utterly bummed by the fact that it was a let-down. After over eight months of a dry-patch without hearing much from Duff, I settled into my seat for The Perfect Man, her latest effort. Unfortunately, on the whole, the movie is about on par with most ‘tween fair, unlike the brilliant The Lizzie McGuire Movie or the very fun A Cinderella Story. However, given the fact that Raise Your Voice was the cinematic equivalent of sewage, it marks a step back in the right direction for Duff. Still, considering she is capable of so much more, part of me is gravely disappointed.

During The Perfect Man’s duration, there were many times when I believed it was heading for greatness—or at least goodness. From the get-go, Duff never ceases to impress in warm, identifiable in her starring-role as Holly Hamilton, a teenage girl whose single-mother Jean (Heather Locklear) moves their family around looking to meet her match. This may be utterly contrived and make Jean a psychotic, yes, but logic isn’t really the point of the movie. Before long, Holly makes with a girl named Amy (Vanessa Lengies) in New York City, her mother’s latest place of romantic enterprise. Amy’s uncle Ben (Chris Noth) supposedly knows exactly what every woman wants, fascinating Holly to the point at which she finds herself dangerously inspired. Using Ben’s comments about women as a guideline, Holly creates a secret admirer for “her mother”, hoping to help her avoid any breakup-heartbreak or the trouble of moving again before even unpacking.

Certain passages of the film really, truly work. Consider a sequence in which Holly is pretending to be the “secret admirer” in an internet chat with Jean. They become comfortable talking with Holly in disguise than they ever have been before with each other; Jean opens up about the choices she has made and makes several realizations about herself. Director Mark Rosman uses a split-screen effect, showing the two staring into their computer monitors which rest mid-screen, as if they are facing each other. Unfortunately, moments like these are mere diamonds in the rough of the whole of the movie.

The real fault of The Perfect Man isn’t its obnoxious supporting cast (Caroline Rhea is particularly awful in this regard) or its sometimes laughable dialogue; they, despite being definite destroyers of my hope that the film might be a great one, were to be expected. The problem I see with it is that of so many other films of its kind: the screenwriter’s unrelenting need to make the plot bigger than it has to be. The Perfect Man’s scribe, Gina Wendkos, tries to turn simple commentary on mother-daughter relationships into some kind of off-beat thriller by adding in scenes that the audience is supposed to view on some kind of cataclysmic level. Case-in-point: a sequence in which Jean attends Ben’s bistro and, when Holly finds out, must light match and activate the building’s indoor-sprinkler system to keep the two from meeting each other and discovering the truth behind her little plan. I like suspense as much as the next guy, but let’s be honest: do scenes like the one that I’ve just pointed out entertain or enlighten viewers at all?

All in all, little can be said for The Perfect Man, aside from the praise that Duff’s work deserves. It’s a cookie-cutter project for the most part, but there are certain moments that almost make it worthwhile. As far as I’m concerned, all it’s truly good for is reinforcing my opinion about Duff: she deserves better than she’s getting. My best advice for her would be to return to director Jim Fall of The Lizzie McGuire Movie for her next film. He knew how to bring out Duff’s charm perfectly, something that is barely accomplished in The Perfect Man.