The Perfect Match

No pun intended - the movie title is aware that it is a pun too ... at least that is how I read it. Nothing here is really perfect ... and nothing really can ever be perfect ... maybe momentarily ... but not over a longer period of time. That said, beware how you watch this ... I started watching a German dubbed version (yes I do speak/understand German too) ... and it was one of the worst things you can imagine.

Luckily a different streaming service did have the original soundtrack ... and it made the movie way better ... I don't think I would have given this anything over a 3 out of 10 if I had continued watching it in German.

I was surprised on how many quite well known individuals were involved in this movie. Maybe I do watch too many movies - if there is such a thing of course. This does have flaws (cliches, sexy time without too much of the sexy time on display ... although I reckon some will prefer it that way, to name a few things) ... but the charm of those involved should be enough to help you enjoy this quite straightforward movie ...

The Perfect Match is a flat, predictable and derivative romantic comedy about a womaniser who loves em and leaves em but then has the tables turned on him.

Charlie (Terrence Jenkins) is a music agent with an interest in photography. His friends bet him that if he sticks to one woman for one month, he is bound to fall in love.

After Charlie meets Eva (Cassie Ventura) things change in his life as she expresses an interest in him and his hobbies. He develops feelings for her but Eva wants a relationship without any strings, just hot sex.

The film has plenty of beautiful women but is not that funny and is rather clunky.

"No strings that's what we said. You knew what we were getting into." Charlie (Jenkins) is living his single life. He can do what he wants, be with who he wants and lives by his unbending rules. When his friends call him on his lifestyle choices he sets out to prove he can be anything he wants. When Eva (Ventura) enters the picture he decides to accept a bet that he can have an actual relationship for a few weeks, Charlie didn't realize what would happen. This is not a bad movie, but almost a little too generic to be good. There are a few twists in this to make it a little different, but really 10 minutes into the movie you can predict what is going to happen and you will be about 90% correct. The acting is OK and the writing is OK, but that's the big problem with the movie. It is just OK. Nothing all that exciting and entertaining and I found myself daydreaming a few times and wasn't paying attention to some scenes, but because of the generic aspect I didn't feel like I missed anything. Overall, I know some people will really enjoy this but as for me it was a movie I have seen a million times and didn't really add enough to make it stand out. I give this a C.

It begins and ends with the letter grade. The grade I ultimately give a movie, emblazoned as a graphic on the movie poster, is the first thing people see when they come across one of my reviews on the internet – and it's almost always the last thing at the end of my written reviews. I make mental notes for my review as I'm watching a film, but the grade is something else altogether. It's like a bottle in the ocean, bobbing up and down, and carried by the tide, before eventually coming to rest on some beach where it will remain, unchanging and unmoved, for all to see. (Unless, of course, some knucklehead runs off with it or breaks it and ruins my whole analogy.) Usually that grade, once it starts to become visible about 1/3 of the way through a movie, stays roughly in the same area and eventually lands not far from where it started. But sometimes, that grade first comes into view at a very low tide and then a rather large wave lifts it surprisingly high until it settles onto some sort of middle ground – probably between a rock and a hard place. That was what happened when I saw the romantic comedy "The Perfect Match" (R, 1:36).

Charlie (Terrence Jenkins, or Terrence J, as he's better known) is a successful celebrity agent, he's handsome and, closing in on his 30th birthday, has everything he's ever wanted – in his words, "making money, driving a fast car and hooking up with models," – with special emphasis on that last one. You see, Charlie, by his own admission, doesn't "do relationships" and he doesn't feel like he's missing anything. Those who know him best would beg to differ. His older sister, Sherry (Paula Patton), who happens to be a therapist, worries that Charlie's emotionally closed off. His best friends, Rick (Donald Faison), who is working on having a baby with his wife, Pressie (Dascha Polanco), and Victor (Robert Christopher Riley), who is planning a long-awaited wedding to his childhood sweetheart, Ginger (Lauren London), both have mad respect for his skills with the ladies, but think it's time for him to settle down. Even though they're just asking him to try it, Charlie isn't happy with his friends trying to cramp his style.

Charlie is tired of his friends dogging him, so he agrees to a bet with them. He'll date one single woman – exclusively – until Victor's wedding (about a month away) to prove to Rick and Victor that he won't get attached, doesn't need to be attached and is perfectly alright remaining detached. Enter Eva (Cassie Ventura). She actually overheard Charlie talking over this bet with his friends and isn't sure that Charlie is her type, but just like Charlie has never been in a long-term relationship, Eva has never been in a short-term one and she says she wants to try something new. Charlie and Eva agree to some no-strings-attached fun and begin spending a lot of time together. Of course, since this a romantic comedy, one of them develops feelings for the other. And, because this is a romantic comedy, you may think you know how this story ends. I'd suggest that you slow your roll. Whatever you're assuming is probably wrong.

By the way, this movie is more than "just" a romantic comedy. In terms of character development, we also see a good bit of Charlie at work. (Remember the first two of those things he said he always wanted? Well, this is where they come in.) Charlie isn't just "an" agent – he's the most valuable agent at his company. Working for the jaded Marty (Joe Pantoliano) and with the obnoxious Abram (Beau Casper Smart) and Charlie's nerdy assistant, Kareem (Steven Daniel Brun), Charlie shows that he's great at what he does. We see him interacting with clients such as Timothy DeLaGhetto (as himself) and "Avatia" (Brandy Norwood), in a short but funny scene accompanied by her assistant, Karen (Kali Hawk). Charlie's main focus is trying to sign French Montana (as himself) to a deal that'll benefit him, Charlie's firm and some other parties as well. Then, just as Charlie's attitudes toward romance and other personal issues look like they might be changing, so might his attitude towards his job and his avocation of photography.

"The Perfect Match" has a pretty bad first half, but a very good second half. For about half of the movie, the acting is suspect, the dialog is boring, the plot points feel forced and there is nary a laugh in this romantic comedy. After the story really gets going, however, the performances seem better, the conversations feel more authentic, the story offers some interesting twists and genuine surprises and the humor ebbs and flows much better. If I were grading the movie in segments, I'd probably give the first half a "C-" and the second half a "B+". But, evaluating an entire movie, my grade ends up somewhere in between, but giving slightly more credit to the movie for actually taking us someplace entertaining, in spite of its slow and uninspired start. In the end, caught between a rock and a hard place on this one, I'm giving the overall movie my barest of recommendations – with a suggestion that if you joined the film about 30-40 minutes into the action, you might actually enjoy it more as a whole. "B-"

I am a movie goer reviewer so there will not be an in-depth a analysis of production or the like.

Advertising for this movie was quite misleading. By giving it the title 'The Perfect Match' and showing clips with Cassie and Terrence J engaging in romantic encounters, they give the impression that the focus of the movie will be them and the evolution of their relationship. However, the audience hears more about the wedding plans of supporting characters are we are supposed to believe that Cassie and Terrence J's characters actually fall in love. Let's see...they had sex in a public bathroom, also in his home, made out in a pool and he photographed her. That's about it. Now how is that he fell in love with her and was heartbroken to the point that he said damaging things to those he loved? This movie seemed like an excuse to cast 2 good looking people to make out - and one of them lacks any type of acting skills. I cannot recommend this move to anyone who desires to be entertained.