Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		2.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.0

The Perfect Man Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman May 8, 2018

How many stories begin with the search for the perfect mate? Does the perfect mate actually exist? Can a person ever truly be perfect for someone else, despite being imperfect themselves? It seems that people are always looking for that special someone who will complete their lives, oftentimes settling for who is willing and available rather than taking the time -- that sometimes agonizingly long time -- to find their true soulmate perfect match. While the story told in The Perfect Man has been told before, in numerous ways (one need only look at the plot summaries for any given weekend slate on Hallmark Channel for proof), The Perfect Man finds, and sometimes thrives in, its niche by focusing not on the couple falling in love but on the love doctor mastermind teenage girl who is plotting to put them together.

From a secret admirer.

Holly (Hilary Duff, A Cinderella Story) sets out to woo her mother Jean (Heather Locklear) through e-mail, pretending to be the perfect guy in order to keep her mother from suffering through another failed relationship and another "fresh start" move to a new home and a new hope. Holly seeks the help of one of her new friend's Uncle Ben (Chris Noth) to figure out what her imaginary secret admirer should say and do to get her mother's attention. But rather than take advice, she takes Ben as the model for her mother's fictional mate. Meanwhile, Jean does her best to fall for yet another Mr. Wrong, Lenny (Mike O'Malley), a guy she knows through work who is still living in the 80s.

Narratively, The Perfect Man barely differs from a run-of-the-mill Hallmark Channel romance. Slightly better production values and an up in the acting category are really all that differentiate it from any of the dozens of new films that outlet cranks out every year (and this reviewer has seen many of them, particularly those that take place at Christmastime). Indeed, there are no major plot reveals or twists, nothing that falls out of the ordinary, nothing to challenge the audience. This is classic comfort food cinema, a movie that has its dramatic ups and downs but stays true to its course, its genre, and all expectations. It's sweet enough, it's simple, it generates some laughs, it finds a bit of drama along the way, and it leaves the audience feeling good. In all of those ways, the film is a success if one can appreciate the simple pleasures and accept it for what it is.

Hilary Duff is another Disney Channel child star whose career, which has branched out beyond the visual medium, enjoyed modest box office-level success. She also became a semi-regular star and bit player in a number of TV shows. The Texas native accomplishes little of great note with her character in The Perfect Man but she does well enough in portraying a fairly typical starstruck Duff-type character, accurately portraying the angst all teens seemingly by unwritten Hollywood law must emote. She's adequately convincing in her conniving and in her scheming so that she might keep her family rooted in one place for a substantial length of time, and she does well in conveying the stress and disappointment that constant uprooting has caused her in her life. Heather Locklear also does well as the struggling single mother that just wants to find her true love but instead keeps falling for whoever pays her any attention. The acting shines brightest not in the classic falling-in-love scenes but rather in the heartfelt relationship exploring and building scenes between Locklear and Duff. Their relationship is as stock as they come -- they butt heads but come to better know and love one another by the end -- but both manage to deliver a very real, tangible sense of person individually and together, maneuvering through the mother-daughter ebbs and flows with a believable grace and efficiency that heighten the movie a bit above its very stock plotting.

The Perfect Man Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Perfect Man's Blu-ray is not perfect. It's far from it. It has an awful, falsely sharpened, digitally processed, hideously artificial look about it. Grain is frozen in place. Details are what they are thanks to the 1080p resolution and not the natural clarity and resolution of its native 35mm source elements. That is to say that they movie looks "sharp" and "clear" at-a-glance but this thing has been processed to within a few inches of its life. It's certainly just a DVD-era transfer slapped onto Blu-ray. Colors are not much better. They're flat and pasty. Skin tones appear unnatural, clothing and environments lack nuance and dazzle. Black levels are murky. Universal's catalogue efforts haven't been horrendous of late, but this one doesn't even try.

The Perfect Man Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Perfect Man's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack adequately carries the film's sonic needs. Music is appropriately spaced and enjoys solid clarity. Background effects in various locations are pleasantly filling and detailed. However, the track is largely front-heavy and dialogue intensive. The spoken word carries the bulk of the production, and it's adequately clear and prioritized. Most other elements simply melt into the background; rarely does the track rise above the delivery of essential sound elements.

The Perfect Man Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Perfect Man's Blu-ray contains no main menu screen. All extras must be accessed in-film via the pop-up menu. This is simply a regurgitation of the DVD list.

• Deleted Scenes (1080i upconverted, 18:46): Several scenes lumped together that cannot be accessed individually.
• Outtakes (1080i upconverted, 4:33).
• Mom & Me (1080i upconverted, 4:36): Heather Locklear and Hillary Duff discuss their roles as mother and daughter, the various embarrassing scenes in the film, and their relationships with their own families.
• Getting the Perfect Look (1080i upconverted, 7:19): A closer look at the hair, makeup, and wardrobe for the movie. Participants discuss the way several of the characters' unique looks were created.
• The Clever Clapper (1080i upconverted, 1:18): This piece looks at the creativity of the clapper board operator.
• Ready, Set, Soak, Shoot (1080i upconverted, 4:23): A look at making the sprinkler scene and filming in a wet location. It includes prepping the location and set, the pressures on the actors to perfect a scene that can only be shot once, and the process of actually shooting the scene.
• The Sweet Arts -- Creating the Cakes (1080i upconverted, 3:09): A look at the various cake creations seen in the film and a discussion of how the actors learned to decorate cakes.
• On the Set with Hilary - Blogs and Buddies (1080i upconverted, 5:48): Hillary Duff discusses the show and blogs a bit about the production, reveals behind the scenes shots of the cast and their homes away from home, and discusses the friendships that formed during the three months of production.
• Hangin' with Hilary (1080i upconverted, 4:00): The cast talks about Hillary and her friendliness on set. Hillary discusses the challenges of her role, playing a character very different from herself, and what her perfect mate and date would be like.
• Hangin' with Heather (1080i upconverted, 3:24): The cast discusses working with Heather Locklear and how well she performs her role. Heather discusses the role and shares her thoughts on "the perfect guy."
• Chattin' with Chris (1080i upconverted, 4:01): The cast shares a few thoughts on working Chris Noth and he discusses his role and his thoughts on the concept of perfection.
• Audio Commentary: Director Mark Rosman and Executive Producer Adam Siegel discuss the challenges of filming in New York and Toronto, and often discuss, humorously, the story and cast, scene construction and shot setup, and share various anecdotes.

The Perfect Man Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Perfect Man will appear on precious few lists of top RomCom favorites or sure-thing award winners, but it's a very serviceable, even enjoyable, rainy afternoon, feel-good type of movie that satisfies the Hallmark Channel movie-as-comfort-food itch while doing so with slightly better production values and fairly good work from Duff, Locklear, and Noth within the plot's and characters' very basic and role-defined limits. Universal's Blu-ray is a disappointment, at least visually. The transfer is a basic DVD up-convert that does not look good at all on the 1080p format. Audio is decent enough and there are some carryover legacy extras to enjoy. Fans unconcerned with picture quality or who want "better" picture over the Blu-ray should find this an agreeable enough upgrade, but videophiles should steer clear.