A Perfect Man

Plot

A womanizing husband inadvertently falls back in love with his wife over the phone when she pretends to be another woman.

Cast

Jeanne Tripplehorn and Liev Schreiber are excellent as always, supporting cast? Forgettable.

Verdict

I have an issue with movies where I'm supposed to root for a vile person, I doubly have an issue where I'm watching a supposed love story and they treat each other poorly and it's played out as being fine and they live happily ever after. A Perfect Man is a great example of this, he's a wretched human being who betrays her trust and he's still made out to be a good guy trying to redeem himself. He's a scumbag, undeserving and the story should have ended in the first 10 minutes.

How am I supposed to watch a film like this? Who am I supposed to root for?

Rants

You know the "Girls like bad boys" cliche, I've seen so much of it through my life, women who are beaten and cheated on but make excuses for their spouses and stay with them. I knew one woman who during her 9 year relationship she found out about a dozen different women and was put in hospital 5 times including one that resulted in her having re-constructive surgery! Did she leave him? No. Wanna know how that 9 year relationship ended? At his hands. I'll never understand why women stay with abusive or cheating partners and this movie glamorizes this foolishness.

The Good

Incredible cast

The Bad

Concept is appalling.

"We haven't talked like that since we first met." Nina (Tripplehorn) and James (Schreiber) are a happily married couple, at least that is what Nina thinks. One day as a joke she follows one of her friends as she heads home. When she catches her with her husband her life is shattered. When she moves out she finds its not as easy to get over him as he thought. In order for closure she calls him as another woman and the romance starts to spark again. This is a hard movie to explain. First of all the synopsis I gave is what I read the movie is about before I started to watch. The only problem with this is that explanation doesn't really seem to be the main focus of the movie. While that is an aspect of it I really think the main plot of the movie is watching how James deals with his actions and how it affects him and everyone and and everything around him. All that said the movie isn't bad but it had the definite feel of a Lifetime movie. The movie itself is a little slow moving and very hard to get into but keep in mind that I am a man and not into the Lifetime-type movies. Overall, another movie where the idea sounds better then the execution. I give this a C+.

First up, I have to say that I was never aware or could never tell, that this film was made over 13 years. The majority of the film was produced in 2000, then shelved, then finalised some 12/13 years later after reshoots and further editing. None of the cast seems to have aged over that time. I don't really know how the uniformity was achieved.

A Perfect Man is not a great story, but it is interesting. I really liked seeing Jeanne Tripplehorn in a lead role again and feel sorry for her, that the film, when finally released, flopped big time. She deserves better. Her Nina is a dignified woman, though I do find it hard to believe she would have stayed with her husband of 9 years, after 4 previously revealed affairs on his part.

Liev Schreiber does just about the impossible and makes a serial heel of a guy, actually somewhat sympathetic. The Dutch locations are very watchable and largely Dutch support characters of some interest. (Let's not even bring up the stereotypical, big talking. Aussie client.) I did find it a little strange the underlining of Nina's bestie being a supposed trans male, though I guess it did fit in with the running theme of role playing games, operating through the storyline.

The ambivalent conclusion with the possibility floated of a reconciliation in an old location is well-handled and realistic. And the casting of "Lawrence" the dog was a winner as far as I was concerned. Good to see him get fairly extensive screen time. With canine charm and appeal, he easily stole every scene he was in. The curious discerning viewer may well find A Perfect Man to be of some interest.

This movie truly hit home, because it was all about a guy name James (Me). I really didn't realize how much I loved Tia and took her very existence for granted. This was art in motion, the hell with the rest speak on...

It is sad that today's audience always needs to see movies with people getting killed, some T&A, some drugs and bad guys/good guys stories, some mistreatment, rape, abuse, winning over prejudice or physical/ emotional weaknesses.

This movie just takes a slice of a couple's life and makes you wonder if it's the last piece or if they are going to make a new one together.

I really like this movie because it is real. More real than any reality show you might be watching. It's tender and tough, it's sad and hopeful. I like it because it's located in one of my most favorite places: Amsterdam, the picture is beautiful: the directing and filming are great and the acting is impeccable: (As another reviewer wrote) Liev Schreiber is very good, as well as Joelle Carter and Louise Fletcher but the outstanding performance of Jeanne Tripplehorn makes you wonder why we don't see her more often in major productions. Don't get me started with the dog.... How did they get him to play his part so well?

Give this movie a try for the simple reason that it is very well done and tasty. I am sure glad I got to see it.