The Perfect Assistant

Be aware you have to stay with this film for it to gell together correctly. At the start of the movie, my finger was hovering over the off button for at least the first twenty minutes. I was close to the pressing point. But something in my mind stopped me from depressing the button.

The story starts out with David Prescott's (Potter) wife Carol (Marcil) being rushed to the hospital. David contacts his personal assistant, Rachel (Davis), to bring her up to speed and to cancel and rearrange meetings until his wife is better. However, Rachel isn't as stable as she appears. She sees David as one of the good men and is truly upset to hear about his wife. She asks how their daughter, Isabelle (Szalankiewicz) is coping. From here on in we get to see her slowly immerse herself into the Prescott's life and family as her delusion grows. It's this growth and the path it leads her down that makes this movie watchable. It gives the story twists and turns that show the workings of a broken mind. Her morals lose ground as her infatuation and obsession grow... how far will she go in what she believes to be true love?

I believe that had this been given to a stronger cast and director it would have been a fantastic thought-provoking and chilling film. However, what we get is an entertaining and easily watchable afternoon TV movie.

Though the direction is pretty standard for this style of flick more powerful atmosphere and tension were called for to add strength to the project. For me, the worst thing about the film was the acting. Especially from Josie Davis who is a little too over the top with her characterisation - less definitely would have been more. However, it's not a constant thing as there are times when she's spot on with her portrayal. Then there's Deborah Pollitt as Nora... okay, so I actually know people like this so she conveys a realistic character, however, with Josie Davis' performance it makes Pollitt's idiosyncrasies more than a little irritating. One annoying character per film is enough.

Since this film surprised me I would recommend it to all psychological thriller fans, though you have to stay with it for the full effect - it's a potboiler.

I got to see this film a few times on on the Movie Network and I really enjoyed every second of the film which featured two stars Joesie davis & Chris Potter who as some of you may remember him from Kung-Fu (Peter Caine) The Legend Continues & Queer As Folk (Dr. David Cameron) I had met Chris a few times back in the early 2000's down at club called Blues On Belair and he is also a great musician. Josie Davis I remember her from Y&R playing the original Grace Turner who had a love interest for Nick Newman. Anyway the most outstanding of the two goes to Josie who played Rachel a assistant to David Wescott (Potter) who is going through the lost of his wife and she simply want Wescott to be with her but unfortunately he simply doesn't feel like having affair with Rachel would not heal his lost to his wife. So Rachel would go to lengths to be more closer to David so she can have him to herself. This is the best I seen Josie in and she looks even more beautiful now.

I have already commented on this film at great lengths- The perfect assistant- and it was never printed on your comments page, and I followed all the required rules -------- so don 't waste my time. Why 10 lines? I saw this film several times, it is a good film, but it had too many loopholes, parts of the plot of the story made no sense at all- for instance , how on earth can a woman walk into a hospital, kill someone and walk out without anyone seeing her. And David Wescott must have been a very STUPID man to say the least, as he failed to see how deeply in love his assistant was with him- then he takes her to NY on a business, trip, plies her with champagne sweet words of praise plus a gift of a watch, overwhelmed she gives him a big hug an kiss on the mouth, he turns on her immediately, won't accept an apology or explanation from her- oh come on. - MEN!!!

I can't believe I watched the whole thing. For fans of any kind of thriller or suspense films, or any kind of drama, you are going to be seriously disappointed with this one. We have all seen the "trusted assistant is nutty stalker" movie a hundred times, so we expect something different when a new version is foisted on us. Every single second of this movie was predictable, from the start to the finish. There is not one surprise. Based on other comments here I stuck it out to the end, but oh did I regret it. We've seen it all before. And on top of that, the dialog was just horrible. Nobody speaks that way, no, not even to themselves. I will remark that Chris Potter was one of the few good things about this movie. He is actually an actor with talent. I really don't know what his agent was thinking when they got him mixed up in this mess. He needs to fire that person ASAP.

THE PERFECT ASSISTANT (TV Movie 2008) 4 out of 10 stars Time to Read: 2:75 min

BASIC PLOT: Rachel Partson (Josie Davis) loves her boss David Wescott (Chris Potter) just a little too much. She's been his executive assistant for three years, and now she's ready to be something else, his wife. The only trouble is, David's a recent widower, and not interested. Rachel's not going to let that stop her. She won't let anything, or anybody stand in the way of her "perfect" relationship. Can David realize the depth of Rachel's obsession, in time to save himself, and his daughter Isabelle (Veronique-Natale Szalankiewicz)?

WHAT WORKS: *EXCELLENT MELODRAMA This is exactly how a well laid out melodrama should work. Not a lot of character development, but lots of good vs evil action.

*REALISTIC PORTRAYAL OF EROTOMANIA Rachel Partson (Josie Davis) has erotomania, and it's depicted well by both the actress, and the writers, Christine Conradt and Shawn Riopelle.

*MANIPULATIONS AREN'T TOO OVER THE TOP In a lot of these types of melodramas, the actions are so over the top, they are not believable. But here, for the most part, Rachel's actions are inline with someone who has a severe romantic fixation.

WHAT DOESN'T WORK:

*DAVID LEADS RACHEL ON And then acts surprised when she reciprocates. I get they are "celebrating" landing a big business deal, BUT... You are sharing a fancy hotel room with your executive assistant, your daughter's in bed, and now you suggest drinking champagne with her. You go on and on about how she's been there for you, and how you don't know what you'd do without her, you're toasting champagne, and looking into her eyes, most people would take that as a come on.

*DAVID RELATES TO RACHEL, AS IF SHE'S UNATTRACTIVE In reality, Rachel (Josie Davis) is the most attractive woman in the whole movie. I don't say this to be unkind, but she's more attractive than Carol Wescott (Jennifer Marcil), David's late wife, and more attractive than Judith Manion (Rachel Hunter), his business partner. Josie Davis is a knockout, and not the type of woman most men would ignore. David's reactions to her are as if she's a plain jane 2, not a drop dead gorgeous 8, so that part of the story really doesn't work.

*WALLY, A BUSINESS ASSOCIATE, TRACKS HIS BOSS'S NANNY'S HOURS? That would be Rachel's job, as David's executive assistant, not Wally's (Jason Harper), one of David's business associates. THAT PLOTLINE MAKES NO SENSE! I expect better from Christine Conradt and Shawn Riopelle, the writers. Also, this plot device is a deus ex machina, because this is how Judith and Wally discover the nanny's immigration appointment was bogus (Rachel set up the fake appointment for the nanny, so the nanny would be busy, and she could go in her stead, with David and his daughter on a trip). From a simple appointment time mix-up, Wally and Judith "figure out" Rachel did all this behind the scenes. WHAT A LOAD OF CRAP! Wally, would not be handling anything to do with his boss's nanny, and even if he did, he would assume it was just a bureaucratic mix-up, NOT a grand conspiracy. Rachel hasn't given anyone a reason to suspect her thus far, so this whole story line is GARBAGE! Top executives don't sit around gossiping, or even thinking about nanny's and assistants. It throws the viewer out of their suspension of disbelief, and instead makes them throw things at the TV!

Thanks Christine Conradt and Shawn Riopelle for RUINING what was a decent melodrama in the last twenty minutes!

TO RECOMMEND, OR NOT TO RECOMMEND, THAT IS THE QUESTION: *I'd definitely recommend this to fans of Josie Davis. If you like watching her portray a villainess, then pop that corn, and turn off the logical side of your brain for an hour and a half. IF you like, and understand the art form of melodrama, then you'll probably like this. Keep in mind, the last twenty minutes SUCKS, and MAKES NO SENSE, but if that type of thing doesn't bother you, then watch away! It is low budget, so keep that in mind. If you're a person who likes deep character development, and believable actions from the players, I'd look elsewhere (I'd also stop watching TV movies).

CLOSING NOTES: *This is a made-for-tv movie, please keep that in mind before you watch\rate it. TV movies have a much lower budget, and so your expectations should be adjusted.

*I have no connection to the film, or production in ANY way. This review was NOT written in full, or in part, by a bot. I am just an honest viewer, who wishes for more straight forward reviews (less trolls and fanboys), and better entertainment. Hope I helped you out.