Perfect Body (1997)

Fresh and Exciting

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Well to start off i must applaud Amy Jo Johnson for her portrayal of teenage gymnast Andie, considering her awful performances in other films i have seen her in (which i won't name due to how incredibly bad they are). If anything Perfect Body may be a tad cliché, but most movies tend to be and people forget it is a TV movie, most of our lives are cliché and we can relate to Andie's suffering as it is the human condition. Andie's parents plod along well through the film, whilst flat, 2 dimensional performances from Tara Boger and Ron Melendez do keep it from being 10/10 for me. But what this film does have is a happy ending with a character who is almost killed by gymnastics, but still goes back to it because it is her passion, not completely forget it which isn't realistic. The chemistry between Andie and her boyfriend is not always evident but they do have a sweet spark in some scenes. Thinking that Amy Jo Johnson was once the Pink Ranger and this film is solely centered around gymnastics and bulimia, it offers a genuine story that captures immense verve, courage and the devout strength of a girl wanting to achieve. This film isn't trying to be something it isn't,which some blockbuster turkeys like the god awful Pearl Harbour try to be.

If I may say... the summary given of this movie is misleading. They insinuate that Andie suffers from bulimia, by stating she finds a way around it by eating what she wants and not gaining weight. Andie suffers from anorexia, and only has bulimic tendencies when forced to eat. Very well plotted movie. It struck a chord with me as it was filmed partially in my home city, and also, Andies original gymnastic colors of pink and purple are IDENTICAl to the uniforms that my best friend sported when she was a gymnast. Its almost like they borrowed her team as extras! This movie really portrays the pain, and the artificial joy that comes with an eating disorder. People think eating disorders are glamorous, but its a curse. Its a disease and it causes the sufferer to isolate themselves from loved ones, as this movie well shows.

I was forced to watch this film at school. Next time, she can give me a big fat F but I refuse to watch anything this horrible. Basiclly, its your typical "based on a true story" TV movie- the true parts are made as small as possible and the rest as filled with melodrama. The acting isn't bad, but the directing is- he basiclly directed his actors to be as exagerated as possible in their emotions. Also, the film is SO predictable- I am not exagerating when I say that after only watching the film for 5 miniutes, I correctly predicted every "plot twist" that was going to happen. And its just basiclly a soap opera- you feel nothing for the charecters because they are in NO WAY REAL, they look just like actors doing a TV movie, not like real people. The script is as cliche as you can get- they play it safe, take no chances, stick to the typical TV movie formula.

The film is very good. The main actress acted very well and so did the actor, whose character's name was Josh. His real name is Ron. The film correctly portrays the sacrifices and hard work an olympic trainee has to go through. It also deals with the common practice among young girls of eating then vomiting just to lose weight and be smart.