Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		2.5

The Perfect Match Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 20, 2016

Rom-coms are not known for their innovative qualities, and that may in fact be one reason why they’re so relentlessly popular so much of the time. Audiences know what they’re in for going into one of these enterprises. Typically there will be a couple who indulge in a “hate at first sight” scenario, only to find true love blossoming later. Or there might actually be a romantic spark that’s felt initially but which encounters a series of obstacles, before the third act denouement of something approaching happily ever after. The Perfect Match telegraphs its proclivities with its very title, and if it never strays very far from a by now familiar set of romantic comedy rules, it’s generally agreeable if pretty shallow. The film may be best appreciated as a sort of “sub genre” entry, designed to appeal to African Americans who may not be totally swayed by the largely white worlds of films like Sleepless In Seattle or When Harry Met Sally.... (In this regard, the film may remind some of 1999’s The Best Man and its follow up, 2013’s The Best Man Holiday.) The Perfect Match posits a swinging single named Charlie (Terrence Jenkins, billed here as Terrence J) who is evidently catnip to women and who relishes his role as a master of the one night stand. Will Charlie forsake his tendency to go for the sexual gusto without any emotional commitment or lasting relationships? If you have any question about the eventual outcome of this query, you may not have seen enough romantic comedies, though it's notable that one of The Perfect Match's plot conceits is that Charlie's arc toward permanence is only half of the equation.

It's kind of interesting to note the march of technology in various refashioned romantic comedies, with a notable change being the difference in how the lovers communicate in The Shop Around the Corner and (decades later) its remake You've Got Mail. Even that latter day film's email may seem a tad quaint to those who do nothing but text nowadays, and those folks may want to ponder for a moment how The Perfect Match's emphasis on various online components will seem in another few years. That might be an unanswerable question (at least for a few more decades), but The Perfect Match wastes little time in dropping all sorts of apps into the conversation, as Charlie, a talent agent and photographer, mines a number of “venues” like Vine in the hopes of finding the “next big thing”. There’s a kind of Tyler Perry-ish quality to some of these proceedings, with Charlie surrounded by a gaggle of friends, many of whom have quasi-soap operatic subplots that inform the main arc of Charlie, who (no surprise here) does end up wanting “something more” with Eva (Cassie Ventura), a conquest who seems to be the distaff version of Charlie, meaning she’s in it for the kicks and not for anything “meaningful”.

The Tyler Perry reference is perhaps especially apt in that The Perfect Match’s screenwriters Brandon Broussard, Gary Hardwick and Dana Verde (it really took three people to write this?) engage in needless histrionics before getting to the already established outcome. The only thing missing is a gospel choir serenading the cast as the closing credits roll. This tendency to over amp what is in essence a fairly lightweight story probably finds its oddest moments after Charlie figures out Eva is treating him exactly the way he’s treated countless women, leading to an almost weirdly hyperbolic breakdown. Again, as with many Perry outings, it’s a transitory trip through melodrama on the way to something shinier and ostensibly happier.

There’s a kind of funny “life coach” who has a bunch of videos online (somehow appropriate, considering this film’s emphasis on such things) who encourages younger males not to believe in the formulations of romantic comedies, where the “goal” is to wine and dine a woman until she falls madly in love with you and then wedding bells can ring. What’s unintentionally hilarious and ironic about this is that this online coach tells young guys that the “goal” is sex, pure and simple, something that Charlie seems to have taken to heart (or some other organ). The film, however, is resolutely in that very romantic comedy rut that the coach disparages, namely one that keeps insisting that “true love” is where everyone really ought to be headed, and that there are in fact happy endings for anyone who looks hard enough for them. It’s a kind of odd disconnect between character and general plot dynamics, and one which the film never really wants to fully investigate.

Director Bille Woodruff is evidently best known as a music video director, despite having helmed a number of less than spectacular films through the years (Beauty Shop, Honey 2, Honey 3: Dare to Dance). That may explain the film’s tendency to deal in vignettes, often with a pulsing soundtrack attending the proceedings. The result is a film that tends to spark intermittently but which ultimately fails to secure its own happily ever after.

The Perfect Match Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Perfect Match is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This is yet another film whose film and/or capture technology has not been detailed on the IMDb, but the closing credits feature the Arri logo, for what that's worth, and occasional artifacts intrude (see screenshot 11) that would argue for digital capture. This transfer has generally very good levels of detail, especially in the brightly lit outdoor moments (which are numerous), but it's also an oddly kind of soft and gauzy looking enterprise some of the time, to the point that I started to actually wonder about focus pulling on occasion. These anomalies also tend to accrue, at least in part, around the edges of the frame for reasons I can't authoritatively unpack. Contrast is occasionally pushed, leading whites to bloom and detail levels to understandably suffer (see screenshot 5). Generally speaking, though, the palette looks very healthy and is often quite nicely vivid, and when close-ups are employed, detail levels are sharp and precise looking.

The Perfect Match Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Director Bille Woodruff's long history with music videos may have helped to inform the choices on this film's soundtrack, presented on the Blu-ray disc i DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, for there's a near nonstop array of source cues running underneath this film, all of which spill through the surrounds quite winningly, and several of which feature pretty fulsome low end. Dialogue is presented cleanly and clearly, and the film's emphasis on several evocative Los Angeles locations provides quite a bit of opportunity for good placement of ambient environmental effects.

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

• Chillin' With the Perfect Crew - Cast and Director Commentary is a rare example of a commentary being "branded", I guess for marketing purposes. This is a pretty noisy and raucous affair, and kind of reminded me of some of the "party hearty" ambience in some Funimation anime commentaries.


• Making The Perfect Match (1080p; 10:22) is standard EPK fare. You know the drill: interviews, scenes from the film and behind the scenes footage.


• What's Love Without Comedy? (1080p; 5:05) is more EPK fare, with a supposed emphasis on how hard comedy is.


• Let the Good Times Roll (1080p; 1:24) is a montage of brief scene snippets.

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

The Perfect Match takes a few passing glances at toying with well worn formulas in the romantic comedy genre, but it ultimately doesn't have the courage of its supposed convictions, sliding back into cliché at virtually every turn. The performers are glamorous and at least passably believable (again in true Tyler Perry fashion), but the film never really touches the heart, which is certainly where the most effective romantic comedies tend to reside. Technical merits are generally strong for those considering a purchase.