Perfect Man

Jean Hamilton, after having a bad relationship, decides to move to New York City with her two daughters. We quickly learn that this particular mother feels the need to move after EVERY bad relationship. The whiny eldest daughter gets sick of it, so she decides to set up her mom with an imaginary guy so she can get her mother on the possible right path.

The Perfect Man is the type of film that you watch once and literally cry through. No, it’s not the type of film that you cry because it is really s…d. It’s the type of film that you cry through because it’s so pathetically bad. The film contains so many countless scenes where the characters do such ridculous things to each other that are, apparently, suppose to be funny. How can harming each other be considered funny? Apparently this film was made for all those teenage people who A. Love Hilary Duff for some reason, B. Love silly romantic comedies, and C. Need a stupid, mundane, boring film to make themselves feel better about their own lives.

Before I begin listing the major, major negatives this film have, so many consider me the type of insensitive guy. I know the difference between a good, sappy romantic comedy (40 Year Old Virgin rings a bell) and a terrible romantic comedy (This is a perfect example). The film is so boring and the script is so bad that I, as stated above, literally cried while watching this movie waiting and waiting for this painful experience to conclude. Here is a question for all of you. How can ANYONE who is semi intelligent find anything redeemable about Hilary Duff? Her acting is so bland and poor that I, someone who has little to no acting experience, could probably act better in this situation.

The Perfect Man is the type of film you watch and then turn off the Television wondering why you just wasted 90 minutes of your life. The film is devoid of anything remotely intelligent or worthwhile. Not to mention that the film stars Hilary Duff, so that should be an immediate warning sign to any intelligent movie watcher. PLEASE avoid this film at ALL costs.

Presented in 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen. The only I problem I noticed with the video transfer were moments of edge enhancements especially in some of the brighter areas. The sunny days looked bright and no scene was really that hard to make out, even on a smaller television. Evidence like this makes me wonder why so much effort was put into the video department when the movie sucked so much. For all of you video nuts out there, this is not a good demo to show off the new television. The aforementioned edge enhancements re the only parts that prevents this from being a super transfer.

Presented in either English/French/Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround. I did not expect much out of the audio department here since the film is a comedy. However, I was somewhat surprised with the final product. As per usual comedies (maybe it is just me), I usually find myself having to use subtitles just to hear what is being said as the laughs could over the dialogue. Such was not the case in this film. Every piece of dialogue was well rendered and easy to understand. It makes me wonder if Universal spent more time on the video and audio departments than the actual whole film.

Special Features

This film includes a giant selection of special features, almost all of which are about as awful at the movie at hand. Because of this, I won’t spend much time talking about my thoughts on all of them; only what they’re about. Just keep in mind that all the features are pretty dull and only a die hard fan of the film will enjoy them.

• Feature Commentary (with producer Adam Segal and director Mark Rosman): I was rather interested in hearing this commentary as I did not find many redeeming qualities in the film. The director comes off as a knowledge person on the subject of the film, but does not go into too much depth as to why he decided to make the film. He just keeps mentioning how Hilary and Heather will enjoyable to work with. A pretty dull commentary that I actually fell asleep through.
• Deleted Scenes (18:45): There are 12 scenes, all of which are about as funny as the movie. The deleted scenes really did not do much for me except make me sit through more of the pain that was this film.
• Outtakes (4:32): An actual funny feature? I kept laughing at the number of times Hilary kept messing up her lines. How does anyone see any quality in her?
• Mom & Me (4:37): Simple and bland feature that speaks of Locklear and Duff working together.
• Getting the Perfect Look (7:19): Another feature that deals with, just as the title states, getting the characters to look perfect.
• The Clever Clapper (1:18): This feature briefly discusses how the guy who works the clapboard always did such “funny” stuff with it, like taping plastic mouths to it, etc.
• Ready, Set, Soak, Shoot! (4:23): This feature informs us how they made that “exciting” sprinkler scene in the restaurant.
• The Sweet Arts – Creating the Cakes (3:09): This feature talks about making the cakes in the film.
• On the Set with Hilary – Blogs and Buddies (5:48): This feature talks about how great Hilary was to work with on set. Seems like Locklear really enjoyed working with Duff basically feeling like her mom in the end.
• Hangin’ with Hilary (4:00): This feature has a camera following Duff around, exploring her exciting life, as well as her extreme stupidity.
• Hangin’ with Heather (3:25): This feature is the same as the one above, except about Locklear. Somewhat redeemable as Locklear comes off as funny.
• Chattin’ with Chris (4:01): This feature is on par with the featurette above, except (of course) it’s about Chris, who plays Uncle Ben in the movie.

There is also a preview for another film, labeled as Coming Attractions.

Final Thoughts

This movie stars Hilary Duff. If that piece of information doesn’t persuade you not to see this film, then take in this fact;the film is directed by the man who brought us the WONDERFUL CINDERELLA MAN. To top it off it’s written by the person who scripted COYOTE UGLY. Take those three big negatives, add zero positives, plus a whole lot more unmentioned negatives, and you have yourself a bad movie. Only recommended for the die-hard Hilary Duff fans that MUST OWN everything she does.

Special Features List

• Commentary by: Filmmakers
• Mom & Me – Hillary and Heather talk about their Onscreen Mother/Daughter Relationship
• Getting the Perfect Look
• On the Set with Hillary – Blogs and Buddies
• Deleted Scenes
• Outtakes