The Perfect You (2002)

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Blistering performances.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

At the start of the movie, a little boy and a little girl are each having a photo made, possibly by a parent, but separately. The little girl teases the little boy. Does this mean anything? Well, it might, or it might just be symbolic.Whitney is new to New York City, having just moved to a relatively nice apartment as she starts a new job as a TV reporter. She tells the audience about herself periodically. Dee is her neighbor who makes friends with her easily.Jimmy is an aspiring short story writer who must wait tables and live with his jazz pianist father Larry since being a writer isn't particularly lucrative. Like Whitney, he too breaks the fourth wall to explain his life. Jimmy has several male friends he hangs out with a lot, including Eddie.Jimmy and Whitney run into each other (sometimes literally) several times, and most of the time it's a terrible experience. In one case, a couple of misunderstandings paired with very clever writing make for a funny, if somewhat off-color, sequence of events.Both Jimmy and Whitney have trouble in their jobs, as well as their romantic lives. We see a number of potential girlfriends for Jimmy that didn't work out for some reason, as well as a couple who might be "the one". There are plenty of funny moments.As the result from several miscommunications, two characters have a telephone conversation so well written and acted it could be excerpted for a Golden Globe clip, had the whole movie been that high quality. I'm not sure about Oscar, since there are fewer eligible movies due to the lack of separate categories for comedy. It's still quite enjoyable if you're not easily offended by the frank sex talk.At least two male characters are gay. One is Whitney's hairdresser (I love his work; okay, the credits say Sasha Cummins, but the actor is quite good too) and so obviously gay. The other is so obviously straight you won't suspect.The normal romantic comedy formula involves a man and a woman who may or may not like each other from the start, but do end up together at some point and stay together or get back together at the end, in most cases. This movie doesn't stick to that formula. It seems all too clear the male lead and female lead despise each other, and not in the way that hints there will be a relationship eventually. But nothing's impossible. I will say I enjoyed the ending a lot.For me, this movie wasn't all that enjoyable. Some actors and actresses I can easily like. Jenny McCarthy isn't one of them. It's not her, but she's just not my type, though she has great hair in most of her scenes. And there's just so much negativity.Also, the sex talk in this movie is quite graphic. And that's the edited for TV version. I don't know how bad the movie actually got. But it depends on the individual. There is certainly quality here for those who like this sort of thing.Drea de Matteo seems totally out of place on "Desperate Housewives", and I don't care for her there, but as a character with a similar personality here, I like her a lot. She just fits in better in New york City.One of Jimmy's dates is very pretty. All I know about her, since she was in just one scene, is that she started out in her underwear, got mad, and put on her clothes and left. I would have liked to get to know her better. I liked the actress, not just for her looks.There is music for nearly every taste. I liked scenes where the style of music is that of Larry's group--traditional jazz which Jimmy considers boring. He wishes Larry would take more risks with his life, but I like what Larry is doing. Only once do we actually see that he is playing that music.If you can deal with graphic dialogue and like quality, this movie may be for you.

I work the graveyard shift at a hotel, there really isn't much to do during that time so I was flipping through the channels on the TV in the office and came across this movie. I thought, "What the heck." To my surprise, I found myself caught up in it at apparently the most pivotal point. (Never can get in on the beginning of the good ones.)I was shocked to find that I actually like Jenny McCarthy as an actress. I just always thought I wouldn't like, no particular reason, just thought that. And let's not forget about Chris Eigeman. Can we say cute!! Actually my type of guy in a romantic lead....I love it.This movie is fantastic. I love how it shows that life can be ironic. I recommend this movie highly!

Amazing! Over the years, I have discovered some of the most original and memorable films on late, late night TV and this is definitely another one of those little gems. Probably the most charming thing a movie like this can deliver is absolute unpredictability. You watch; you immediately discover these fully-developed, charming, complicated, quirky, fascinating characters -- and they just take over. They simply start to do their thing and it's not like anything you have ever seen before -- because you've never seen these characters anywhere else before. Wonderful! It's called originality and it has become a very rare thing in a movie from any major studio. This film is completely absorbing and entertaining -- every minute is an adventure -- and you just do not want it to end.You have to wonder -- how did this miss getting noticed when it first came out? Was it a bad title? In this case, it seems they couldn't decide which of the two titles to use. Yes; you will find it under BOTH IMDb-listed titles! Was it simply the failure of the marketing department? Obviously, lame titles and poor marketing have torpedoed the release of many a fine film. But wow -- what an inspired script -- complete with sparkling dialog. The film is superbly directed -- and just look at the class-A on screen talent here! Jenny McCarthy is truly sublime in this role.

It has enough moments to make it passable as a rental that substitutes for bad TV. Not the strongest recommendation, but when I watched it I was in the mood for something not demanding, and it delivered. The leads are competent and the story is a nice variation on boy meets girl, and there aren't any scenes that stink the movie up for me. I wouldn't watch this movie with young kids, unless you are eager to explain to them about some recreational equipment for adults.