DVD Review: The Perfect Man
Jean Hamilton great baker, a sexy woman, and a poor parent. You see, every time she gets her heart broken, she packs up and moves to a different city, which wouldn't be so terrible except that she has two daughters that she drags along with her. Plus, we're led to believe that this happens every few months. So right out of the gate, I don't like this character. She is a selfish woman who puts her desires above what's best for her children. I don't sympathize with her, I don't feel sorry for her, and when her teenage daughter, Holly, makes up a fake man so that her mom won't get engaged to a man she's incompatible with, I am all for the plan, even knowing full well that eventually Jean will learn the truth and be very hurt by it (just like in every other romantic comedy).
As for Holly, well, I thought she was alright at first, if not a bit timid. It was obvious that she didn't want to move yet again, but she just wouldn't talk to her mom about it. So instead she gets the idea to create this Mr. Perfect when she talks to new her friend's uncle, Uncle Ben, who seems to be wise in the ways of romance. Each idea of his seems to be spot on, though Holly and her friend lead him to believe all this is just hypothetical, for a school report. So eventually Holly's Mr. Perfect is actually sending constant e-mails and instant messaging with our desperate mom, and things are going great... even if it is kind of creepy that Holly's actually seducing her own mom. Anyway, soon comes the time, just like in any old romantic comedy, that things start to get complicated.
In our story, this complication comes in the form of Jean heading over to a baby shower at the restaurant that Uncle Ben owns... because Holly, like a dumbass, sent his picture as Mr. Perfect to her mom, and Mr. Perfect is supposed to be over in China opening a new restaurant. So now Molly and her friend, Amber, frantically try to keep each of them distracted so Jean won't spot Ben. And here comes the point where I start to hate the Holly character. Instead of just standing next to her mom to block her view, or even just admitting the truth, she instead opts to set off the overhead sprinklers thus costing Ben thousands of dollars in damages and lost customers, not to mention getting every person in the place completely soaked. Look here young lady, lying to your mom is fine because she more than deserves it for how she treated you, but when your lie is about to hurt other innocent individuals then it's time to stop.
And after all that, we still know that the truth is going to come out eventually, it's just a matter of time. But meanwhile, there's a little subplot about Holly becoming attached to her new friend, that's a boy, because obviously we're going to need to see her get hurt by him somehow at the end of the film so she can feel the same emotions that her mother goes through. Thing is, when we get to that point, I don't get how she got hurt. I mean, he was a real nice guy and there really wasn't anything that he could have done to hurt her, so it's like they just made up some trivial little misunderstanding that completely devastated her. And when I say trivial, I mean it. You might think that she saw him kissing another girl or something, but no, it wasn't anything like that.
But anyway, putting aside my distaste for the two main characters, this movie still didn't have much to keep it going. It was mildly funny, and had it's moments here and there, but it's not like I would have been disappointed had I never got to see it. I'm sure the female preteen market would probably like this movie a lot more that I did. The DVD, however, is quite well done. There is a ton of extra features to keep you entertained after the movie is over, such as various cast interviews, mini-documentaries on making the film, deleted scenes, outtakes, and a bunch of other stuff I can't think of at the moment. So if you are a fan of the film, this release will get you your money's worth.
The Perfect Man was released by Universal Studios Home Video on DVD on November 1, 2005. It was directed by Mark Rosman, and stars Hilary Duff as Holly, Heather Locklear as Jean, Chris Noth as Uncle Ben, Aria Wallace as Zoe, Michelle Nolden as Amber, and Dennis DeYoung.
