The Perfect Man (2005)
Holly is tired of moving every time her mom Jean breaks up with yet another second-rate guy. To distract her mother from her latest bad choice, Holly conceives the perfect plan for the perfect man, an imaginary secret admirer who will romance Jean and boost her self-esteem.
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Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.
Good start, but then it gets ruined
Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.
A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.
Holly Hamilton (Hilary Duff) keeps having to move every time her mother (Heather Locklear) breaks up with her jerk boyfriends. Now they're in Brooklyn. Holly decides to give her mother a secret admirer to cheer her up and maybe keep her in town. When buffoon Lenny (Mike O'Malley) starts dating her mother, she catfish her mother to break them up. Only it gets more and more complicated with her new friend's uncle Ben (Chris Noth).This is meant to be cute, but Holly is just too annoyingly selfish. This scheme is not the least bit adorable. It doesn't justify anything she does. She literally is about to break up a wedding for no good reason. It is possibly the least romantic movie around. Hilary Duff is so cutesy bratty. Even if the movie could play this seriously, it had no shot of being good.
I don't know whether this is just because I'm hungover and therefore less patient than usual but I couldn't stomach any of the characters in this film.The mother is so selfish: I mean using the school discussion to try and get dates, really?! Holly is completely unlikeable, I mean does the best friend ever get to speak unless it's to do with Holly's selfish plan. Don't even get my started on the younger sister. The entire family annoyed me.A positive note I did like the supporting characters, like the boyfriend and the waiter for a bit of comic relief.I just was disappointed so much by the mother the entire time with her 'If I can't find a man I have to move attitude' that I couldn't be happy for her.Anyway I'm ranting, but I wouldn't recommend this film anymore. Not even Duff fans. I mean I love Chris Noth and even he couldn't save it.
I chose "The Perfect Man" from several DVDs borrowed from my library to pass some time. I usually shy away from "girlie" flicks, but this seemed worth a look. I'd heard of Hilary Duff of course, but this was the first time I caught her on film.The plot was good, with a fine, realistic ending. Production values and directing seemed tops. Chris Noth gave his usual impeccable performance, and Heather Locklear's work on the film is impressive.The surprise for me was the amazing Vanessa Lengies! This young woman's work was on par with Chris Noth's. Both came across as real people, not actors.I do hope that Ms. Lengies finds more recognition, and certainly more work. Her performance brings to mind the unabashed work of the young Barbra Streisand. Bravo!
This movie is quite cute. The Brooklyn accents are a bit off and very forced, but the movie is still cute. The end was a bit predictable (everyone is with heir happily ever after people) but I was not expecting that it wasn't Ben marrying Amber! Also, what really happened at the end with Ben and Jean? Also, Ben Feldman (aka Adam) is so cute! I could have sworn I saw him somewhere, but he isn't in anything I have seen. Perhaps it is because he looks like the guy in Bring It On--Jesse Bradford (who, by the way, I think looks like Hugh Jackman--whom I also love). In short, cute movie, totally unrealistic (but most of these kinds of movies are, no?) and Ben Feldman is a bit like the perfect guy.