Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3203 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-02-06
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Dubbed, PAL
• Original language: English, Portuguese
• Subtitled in: Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish
• Dubbed in: Hungarian
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 96 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
One of Hilary Duff's most attractive qualities is that she's not a borderline anorexic like too many Hollywood starlets; she has a warm, full-bodied presence that makes her dangerously glossy prettiness accessible. Similarly, Heather Locklear--who's been an iconic plastic blonde on television for decades--is cultivating a bruised humanity as she matures. These two combine forces in The Perfect Man, a curious teen comedy/adult romance hybrid about a single mother named Jean (Locklear, Melrose Place) whose tactic for getting over a broken heart is to move to a different part of the country, uprooting her two daughters Holly and Zoe (Duff, Cheaper by the Dozen, and newcomer Aria Wallace) in the process. Holly, to keep her mother from falling into another desperate and doomed relationship, uses advice from a schoolfriend's uncle (Chris Noth, Sex and the City) to send Jean flowers and love letters from a secret admirer. Of course, sustaining this fantasy requires some wacky antics, but The Perfect Man balances goofiness with an emotional mother/daughter tug-of-war and has some entertaining supporting actors (including Caroline Rhea, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, and Carson Kressley, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy). The plot, however, has holes so big that it collapses even as it unfolds. --Bret Fetzer

Synopsis
Hilary Duff stars in this comedy as Holly, a teenager whose lovelorn single mum (Heather Locklear) moves the family including her youngest daughter (Aria Wallace) to a new state every time she gets dumped, which is often. Their latest residence turns out to be Brooklyn, where the now thoroughly destabilised Holly decides that enough is enough and works to prevent mum from dating yet another local loser. She uses a friend's handsome uncle (Chris Noth) as the unwitting basis for a fictional secret admirer to keep mum occupied, but the deception quickly spins out of control, resulting in some madcap hijinx. Meanwhile, a classmate who is a comic book artist (Ben Feldman) falls for Holly, but she's way too edgy to notice that love has found her instead of her mum. This whimsical plotline may sound familiar to any non-tweener in the audience, but it works due to the relaxed, natural rapport between Duff and Locklear who share some heartfelt moments of mother-daughter bonding. Plus, no one can squirm in tortured embarrassment quite as effectively as Duff can, and she gets plenty of opportunities. The soundtrack is peppered with Styx songs (singer Dennis DeYoung plays an impersonator of himself) and Vanessa Lengies quietly stands out with plenty of natural grace as Holly's hipster high school buddy.

Customer Reviews

Brilliant!
This is unbelievable! I was forced to watch it on a transatlantic flight and was astounded by how crap it was. But here's the weird thing, it's totally compelling! I've been secretly watching it since. If it's on Sky and I'm on my own in the house, I'll watch it.

Heather Locklear's character is totally unrealistic, I mean, what a bad mother! She just drags her kids out of school and across the country every time she gets dumped.

And there's this one scene where mother and daughters have a dance together to some really inappropriate dance music (it's a funny story but I won't spoil it). The first time you see that you'll want to kill yourself and everybody within 100 yards with a smile on their faces. But after the tenth time you'll just drop your pants and dance!

In summary, this is one of the worst films I have EVER seen, but I think I love it.

Just a fun film.
I thought this was funny and light hearted. I rented it and watched it again and again; it really cheered me up. I would even like to buy it now because I fancy another watch. The actors all had great chemistry and overall performed well, even Hilary Duff! If you fancy a fun, warm, original and easy film to watch, rent this! It's great chick flick and I also liked the songs!

BETTER THAN PEOPLE SAY IT IS
The Perfect Man deserves much more respect than it gets

Plot: Holly (Hilary Duff) is tiered of her mother (Heather Locklear) keeping them on the go and always moving whenever she gets dumped. This time they move to New York along with Holley's little sister Zoe (Aria Wallace). Her mom has found a job at the bakery and has started to fall in love with a fellow co-worker, Lenny (Mike O'Malley). While her mother is blind to his flaws Holly is horrified to learn her mom is dating him as he is the entirely wrong person for her mom. She enlists help from her new school pal Amy (Vanessa Lengies) to create an imaginary admirer for her mother based on Amy's uncle (Chris Noth) and they contact through email and letters and slowly her mom begins to fall for him all though they have never met, but Lenny is determined to keep her. When Holly finally realizes that Amy's uncle is the perfect man for her mom she realizes they can never meet because of her scam. She has to find a way to make them meet and cover up for her plan.

The Good News: Hilary Duff is the brightest thing in here, keeping the film alive with her preppy and energetic energy. I also have to admit that there are some scenes in here that will stick in your head after the show is over. For example when there is danger that Holly's mom and Amy's uncle may meet, Holly sets off the sprinkler alarm in the restaurant that they are both in and it is truly a memorable scene. The whole wedding interruption was hilarious and is another great scene. Hilary Duff's reaction is priceless. The delivering of the flowers is another. There is also a moral to parents about their kids that when they keep doing something their kids are going to follow in their footsteps. Because Holly's mother can't keep a guy and she gets dumped so often Holly refuses to fall in love, believing that she will get her heart broken too. The supporting actors do fine in their roles, the best supporting actor is Vanessa Lengies who shines during her screen time. Going back to Hilary Duff she got nominated for a Golden Rasberry Award for worst actress, thankfully she lost and why she was nominated is beyond me. I wouldn't nominate her for an Oscar, but she doesn't deserve a Rasberry. It also has a tenderness and a family message along with plenty of laughs.

The Bad News: There are some HUGE plot holes and errors. The plot is pretty idiotic and you have to suspend your disbelief a lot. Heather Locklear's acting should be nominated for a Rasberry and the whole boyfriend and girlfriend part between Holly and her friend is a waste of time. It also doesn't invite to many repeated viewings.

Conclusion: Some plot holes and errors should not stop you from seeing this. In the end The Perfect Man sets out what it's supposed to do.