Hilary Duff has never made a movie on her own that I've liked. "A Cinderella Story" was mediocre at best and "Raise Your Voice" had to be on the worst films of 2004. "The Perfect Man" is another Duff vehicle that received horrid reviews, which is funny because I actually thought it was sort of decent. It is the type of movie that is bland and indistinguishable, yes, but also decently so. The storyline zips along with enough plausibility and chuckles for you to feel like the rental fee was worth it. Unlike "A Cinderella Story" and "Raise Your Voice," Duff is not a victim this time, which was refreshing. In fact, she's can be narcissistic and cruel. Heather Locklear plays her distressed mom, and I haven't seen any of her other films but I thought she was believable enough. Ben Feldman is affable as Duff's love interest and Chris Noth is quite good as a charming restraunteer. Speaking of Noth, a good way to sum up "The Perfect Man" is that it plays out a more extended version of a Sex and the City episode, only without the risqué humor or racy subject matter, which makes it a good fit for moms and their daughters. Not a great film, but it follows its dubious formula well enough for me to recommend it to some.

GRADE: B

THE PERFECT MAN is another one of those fluff romantic comedies that just keep recycling - single mom and pseudorebellious daughter make everything work after plotted plans go astray. This is one of those films that you rent because the video store is closing and you need a somnolent-inducing DVD. But in the case of THE PERFECT MAN there are some nice surprises!

Jean Hamilton (Heather Locklear) is a 40ish single mom who bakes specialty cakes and can't land a man. Whenever she gets close to a commitment or when she is passed by, she runs, family in tow, to a new city, new friends, new opportunities to find a man before she is too old. Her daughters Holly (Hilary Duff) age 16 and little Zoe (Aria Wallace) go along with the transplanting moves, understanding and supportive of their mother but yearning for some permanence. The newest move is to Brooklyn: Jean is welcomed back to a bakery of friends, Holly finds reasons to like her new school (friends female and male) and Zoe starts on a run toward a spelling bee. Since Jean is so desperate for a man, she is swept off her feet by a fellow baker who is sweet but otherwise fairly low on the food chain. Holly and her new friend Amber (Michelle Nolden) plan a way to capture Jean's attention from a created secret lover, their information comes from Amber's restaurateur Uncle Ben (Chris Noth) who tells them the secrets to winning a woman's heart.

Let the games begin: first flowers, then gifts, then letters, then email, then I'm, and Jean feels as though there really is someone special out there who loves her. But as all games go, this one has its successes and major failures and as Holly grows to understand her mother's dilemma, she finds her own in her reluctance to accept the fact that her friend Adam (Ben Feldman) has fallen for her and wants her around. From that point it is a comedy of errors until the final frames where, as expected, all works out for the best for everyone.

Shallow, yes. Been there, done that, yes. But the surprise is the growth of Heather Locklear as an actress! She has come along ways from her 'Dynasty'/'Melrose Place' days as basically set decor and has accepted her age gracefully, coupling that with a nuanced acting ability that makes her a welcome 'newcomer' to the screen. She is worth sitting through this little yawner, making it come alive every time she is on screen. Grady Harp

Tonight I saw a "Perfect Man". While there were a few inconsistencies such as bad Brooklyn Accents and that Holly (Hillary Duff) was 16 and driving in NYC, you must be 18 to drive within the city limits, the movie itself was great. I am the daughter of divorced parents, as so many of us in today's world. I always resented that my mother changed my sister and my lives to benefit her own. However we saw this movie together and after we both had a really good cry. She related to Jean (Heather Locklear), a single mother who moved over a man. And I related to Holly (Duff) who didn't want to move and had to leave her friends behind. Although it's not clear if the mother was divorced or never married, this movie was an amazing account of the divorcée and her daughters attempts to get things right.

Hilary Duff once again steps into her comfortable role as the good girl next door, this time as Heather Locklear's daughter. Tired of her mom having a breakdown and moving every time she gets dumped by another third rate guy. To prevent going on another "adventure", and to save her mother's self esteem, Holly concocts a plot for the imaginary perfect man for her mother.

The film is charming. Although it's no Oscar contender, this film exists to entertain and make audiences laugh. There are some cheesy moments and lines, but it doesn't hurt the film. Hilary Duff has improved her acting even more since 2004's "Raise Your Voice" and Heather Locklear adds a certain flair to the story not always seen in a Hilary Duff movie. The sub romantic plot between Holly and Ben is sweet, and you get some scenic views of New York, all of which helps to make a pleasurable movie that should've been a hit but instead got swallowed up by blockbusters at the box office.

OK. I'm a Caucasian male in my 30's, there is no reason this film should appeal to me. So, I had the opportunity to see it last night. It has been a long time since I've been so pleasantly surprised in a movie theater. Firstly, the performances were great- Duff and Locklear (I never liked her before, but she's funny and beautiful and delivers... crazy) were dynamic and interesting. Noth is kind of irritating, but I guess some people find him sexy. Anyway, what on the face is a silly small tale is in fact a movie of surprising depth about relationships, the fear of solitude, and familial interaction. Who the hell knew a director of pulpy TV stuff had this in him? I'm considering that perhaps I was emotionally available or vulnerable, but objectively, the film-making is consummate. It looks great- like a big 80's comedy, nice and vivid and bright. So, don't fight if you are taken by a wife/daughter... you will be nicely surprised.

Holly Hamilton (Hilary Duff) is sick of her single mother (Heather Locklear) embarrassing her and ruining her life with her bad choices in men and her breakdowns when they don't work out. To try to break the cycle, Holly invents the perfect man, a secret admirer who romances her mother from a distance and then borrows her friend's Uncle Ben (Chris Noth) to maintain the ruse.

The Perfect Man is a bland, sweet piece of fluff that will entertain it's target audience though everyone else may have trouble forgiving the flaws. The film is obviously unrealistic so if you're going to watch it, keep that in mind. It has an interesting story, though I have been told that it's a rip off of Mermaids which I never saw so that didn't bother me. Mark Rosman is pretty good at making kids films/shows after A Cinderella Story and Even Stevens. Most people over the age of 15 probably hate his work but if the kids like it than he gets the job done but their was something missing here. Even my sister, the biggest lover of fluff films, said it wasn't very good.

The biggest problem with The Perfect Man is that all the characters are unlikable. Holly's mom is selfish for moving the kids to different places after each breakup. Instead of dealing with the problems, she just runs away from them and it's hard for her daughters to grow up. Holly doesn't really seem to care about her mom and when they move to Brooklyn, she does everything to make her stay. This includes writing fake love letters and seducing her own mom online. Most of the characters are also pretty annoying and even the short running time becomes a challenge to get through.

The main actors are all pretty good but the supporting actors are weak. Hilary Duff is a decent actress and this film is defiantly better than her last flop Raise Your Voice. This is a better role for her since it lets her grow as an actress and it doesn't require her to sing. Duff isn't as good as Heather Locklear though. Heather is really good in this role and she would never have trouble finding a man. Chris Noth does an okay job but I really don't see the appeal of him as an actor. Caroline Rhea and Carson Kressley tie each other for the most annoying performance in the movie. Both of their characters were added for comedy relief but they will most likely give the audience a headache. In the end, The Perfect Man is far from perfect but it's nice entertainment for Hilary Duff fans and tweens. Rating 5/10

For lack of better movies to watch, "The Perfect Man", shown recently on cable, seemed harmless enough when there was nothing better at the same time slot. This film, directed by Marc Rosman, and written for the screen by Gina Wendkos, is a rehash of other, better made movies.

The premise that this single mother can pick up and leave her last home and move to Brooklyn with her two young daughters and finds a great apartment, a nice job, and romance, is for people that live on a cloud, but not in this world. Ms. Wendkos and the others that contribute to this romantic comedy don't have a clue about reality. Probably the rent for this apartment goes for over $1,500.00 a month and she is probably making minimum wage at the bakery. Hello!!! Unless she's receiving child support payments, she could not afford to live there. Only in movies such as this would a Jean Hamilton find everything and end up with a hunk of a man in the process.

The older daughter, Holly, is a girl that needs some help because in her quest for getting her mother interested in a man, she decides to create him and introduce this Ben to her mother when she chats on line. Holly plays one of the cruelest tricks to a human being, let alone to her own mother. When she realizes she has made a terrible blunder and her mom is going to be at the restaurant her chat friend Ben owns, she panics and ruins the place and who knows how much damage she causes by activating the sprinkler system. Holly is a girl that is also out of touch with life.

"The Perfect Man" is recommended for people that think everything is possible in the movies, even if they present a distorted view of reality.

Saw this at a press preview and was sadly disappointed. Even though Heather Locklear is nice to look at, I disliked her selfish character right from the beginning. This dark subject was portrayed with too much fluff and the movie was wrought with simple errors and missing elements. In one scene, Jean is asked to go to a Styx concert and says, "Who is Styx?" In the next scene, she knows the band well enough to know the people on stage aren't the real singers. (They're a tribute band.) Holly's young friend (and niece to Pefect man) disappears 3/4 into the movie never to be seen again. The flaming gay stereotyped bartender added nothing to the plot but comic relief. Don't waste your money at the box office. If you must see it, wait for Netflix.

"Perfect Man" follows the life of Holly (Duff) as she struggles with her inept mother, Jean (Locklear). Firstly, the plot itself is a sinker. Basically, Jean is a single mother of 2 who finds the need to move to another state every time she gets dumped by a guy. That is the most unreasonable thing I've heard since Veronica got mad at Betty after she had a dream that Betty kissed Archie (take my word for it - it was pretty unreasonable). However, according to the makers of "Perfect Man", such unreasonable behavior breeds comedy ("I'm jeopardizing my children's future. HAHA - that's so funny") Because of her mom's lack of rational thinking, Holly has never been to a prom (shock horror). Perhaps if she got up and told her mom that she was being utterly crazy and selfish instead of just sitting there complaining on her weblog and calling herself a "teenage gypsy", she could've made some progress with the situation. Then again, if Holly was smart enough to do that, we wouldn't have this movie. In fact, that'd be true if ANYONE in the movie was smart. No wait...Holly's little sister is smart - after all, she did win the spelling bee. My bad.

It gets worse. Holly moves to Brooklyn where BAKER mom manages to afford an amazingly pretty, spacious apartment. Jean starts work and immediately, the loser bread-maker (O'Malley) asks her out. Holly freaks because this means she'll have to move again in the not-so-distant future as mom goes into selfish mode again. Holly's life is also full of surprises. First day of school, she becomes best friends forever with Amy (Lengies) and already has an admirer in quiet comic book guy Adam (Feldman). Apparently, taking someone's seat makes you very attractive...that's what made Adam take an interest in her.

Back to freako-mom's case. Holly doesn't want to move anymore and so teams up with Amy to "trick" her mom into thinking she has a secret admirer. The two base this "perfect man" on Amy's restaurant owner uncle, Ben (Noth...who was also the reason why I actually watched this sad sad film) and subsequently ask him for advice on how to woo women. Ben, being in the movie, is also not very bright and actually believes that the girls need this type of information for school. So, following Ben's advice, they start sending Jean flowers and letters. Jean, who just arrived in town does not find it creepy that she already has an admirer who knows where she lives and happily accepts these gifts. Chalk one up for Holly's brilliant plan!! As expected, the lie gets more complicated and Holly eventually has to send her mom a picture of her admirer to convince her that he's real. Being so shrewd, she sends Ben's photo and even names the imaginary admirer "Ben". In the 21st century when we have access to magazines and internet to look up pictures of people, she chooses to send a picture of a man who lives in the same neighborhood. A lot of wooing ensues which is quite disturbing in many ways. One, the wooing is between mother and daughter which is just wrong. Two, Jean STILL doesn't find it creepy that this "secret admirer" who she's never met in her life is sending her some pretty mawkish messages. Three, Holly enlists Adam to act as Ben and talk to Jean on the phone. He starts imaging that he's talking to Holly and starts to say that he loves her...pretty disgusting considering mom's on the other line.

Holly is probably addicted to deception. Not only does she lie to her mom and toy with her emotions, she also uses Ben. In one part, Jean goes to Ben's restaurant. Scared that they might see each other, Holly sets off the sprinklers in the eatery, chasing out ALL of Ben's customers and practically destroying his restaurant. Does Holly feel bad? Nope! At another point, she goes up to Ben's house alone despite only meeting him 2 times (if I were Ben, I'd be pretty freaked) and realizes that he TRULY is perfect for her mom. Her reason? They both do the Times crossword puzzle in pen!! Like Duh! OK, I exaggerate, there was also something about the moon and having a nice kitchen. Holly has some really weird way of determining whether two people are soul-mates or not. After realizing that Ben is perfect, Holly runs, in a very dramatically, to stop what she believes to be Ben's wedding to another woman. This woman and Ben could've had an 8 year relationship or something before but Ben and Jean both do crossword puzzles in pen so whatever to the other woman - she's not Ben's soul-mate. Turns out, Ben was just best man at the wedding but Holly manages to wreck it anyways. Does Holly feel bad? Nope! Ben gets angry (FINALLY) and Holly amazingly manages to make it seem like he's the unreasonable one. When Jean finds out that the whole admirer thing was just a scam, Holly's the one who yells at her mom. Not once does she apologize for her totally unacceptable behavior.

Well, it's a Hilary movie so it all ends well. Holly finally opens up and admits that she likes Adam and she realizes her dream of going to the prom. Ben finally meets Jean and they hit it off. All loose ends are tied off which should be very satisfying but sadly, is not because this is such a ridiculous movie about how lying and cheating can get you what you want. None of the actors are convincing in their roles (Locklear as woman who can't get a decent boyfriend? Hilary Duff as the insecure outcast-ish character? Like in ALL her movies? Someone as cute as Ben Feldman as the not-so-noticed geek?).

Still I HIGHLY recommend watching this movie to see how UNBELIEVABLE and selfish these people really are!!

Is it me..or are all of Hilary Duffs films the same?A Cinderella story,Lizzie Mcguire,Raise Your Voice,and the perfect man.she always plays a character who seems to be based on herself, a whiter than white goody goody, that gets so boring.the perfect man has a stupid storyline, as if anyone would create an imaginary person for their mom to fall in love with, its absolutely ridiculous Hilary's hair is worn in questionable styles, and her dress sense is even more questionable.The supporting cast is weak, the soundtrack is naff and Hilary's character is just plain annoying, yet i think this is the first film, where Hilary has sang on the soundtrack, which is a bonus in itself. my advice?stick to Lindsay lohan films, at least they have a backbone, and likable characters, like Jamie lee Curtis, or Rachel McAdams.

I saw the DVD and I was totally disappointed. The first time I saw the advert for this in the universal studios I was actually looking forward to it, thinking it would be a sweet, feel-good movie. But the plot makes no sense, Hilary Duff is a really bad actress, I don't like Heather Locklear's selfish character "Jean Hamilton" - the producers and scriptwriter obviously aren't parents (what mother is that desperate for a man that she puts that before taking good care of her children?) When I finished watching it I felt like I have wasted a perfectly good Saturday night. My advice is don't watch this movie, it's boring and you won't feel good after watching it at all.

While the title states "Complete Suck Job" this can be a bit misleading. As a suck job would feel good, and this movie is excruciatingly painful.

First of all, the entire premise is completely unreasonable. No one just gets up and moves by default after each breakup. Especially if you have kids to uproot every time you do it. However, if you have any chance of surviving this movie you will have to overlook that fact.

Let you be warned. If you ever watch this movie (which I whole-heartedly discourage) bring as many land-scaling devices (ladders, bridges, etc.) as possible to get over ALL the plot-holes. I can't even remember them all because I was lost in one for so long that I forgot SO many of the other ones. But I must mention a few of them: Where in the world did Amy go at the end of the movie? Just completely disappears and is forgotten about. Perhaps she went with Carmen Sandiego. If you are someone of the Christian faith, you will love this movie. Because apparently Holly and her sister were immaculately conceived. No one even mentions where their father is or why he left. Therefore, it is believed he was never there for Holly when she was growing up, but he managed to knock Jean up one more time NINE years later. 9!! You wouldn't think that an actual timeline would have to be plastered on the writers' walls while they were writing the script. But you would be sorely mistaken. On the flip side, this movie does give me a glimmer of hope for my future, because apparently you can afford a comfortable NYC apartment for 3 in a quality neighborhood, nice furnishings, and a brand new laptop all on a BAKER'S salary. Are you kidding me? I know this movie was supposed to be a romantic comedy, but was that the joke? If so, it was easily the best one in the entire movie.

To be completely honest with you, Reader, I don't know what to protect you from next. The acting is adequate (not really, just trying to be nice) but the script is sooo outrageously bad that it has absolutely no chance of recovering from the depths of movie s**thood. The Lenny character had no business being in this movie (or any movie for that matter). He could have easily been excluded and everyone would have been better off for it. He was annoying, poorly written, stereotypically overly obnoxious. The out-of-nowhere proposal? COME ON WRITERS!! Lets work that one out on the first read-through of the rough draft. Moving on, Holly meets her "best friend" and romantic interest IMMEDIATELY when she goes to school. The FIRST and ONLY people she talks to at school. That is quality writing right there. Cut out all the fat; it's bad for you. I would have loved to see how long this movie would have been if all the plot-holes were filled in and the p*ss-poor writing corrected. Probably longer than it took to actually write the final script.

The only redeeming quality this movie has is Hilary (pre-punk makeover, which is horrible on its own right, but that is neither here nor there). Where am I going with this comment? I'm not quite shore. The only thing I am quite shore about is that this movie blows. And blows gently at that. Even Hilary at her best could not save this movie.

Oh but wait!! There is a magical "twist" at the end of the movie that will enchant the entire audience for years to come!! It makes everything turn out OK. I wish I could reveal it to you but, alas, I will not, for it is the only thing that saves this movie. Or is it? I'm not quite shore. Not quite shore...

Skip the movie, and rent Mermaids from Netflix instead. I'm so sick of production companies recycling good movies to make them vehicles for their new "It Girls". They wonder why theater attendance is down...all they have to do is realize people aren't going to pay $8.50 to see a movie that was made and released 15 years ago, remade with a different cast. Get some original screenplays, hire some real actors and show me something I haven't seen before. Come on Sheeple!! What the heck are they doing here. I love going to the movies, but they seriously need to start competing with themselves. I mean, they might as well just dust off the old black and white westerns and colorize them.

It takes a lot for me to say that a movie is horrible, but "The Perfect Man" has given me plenty of ammunition. It was so bad that I nearly erased it from my memory, and writing this review is requiring me to search the farthest depths of my consciousness to bring the memory of this movie back to the surface. The only reason I was able to sit through the whole thing was because of my love for the Duffster, but sadly not even she made this movie worthwhile.

First of all there are NUMEROUS plot holes. The most glaring one seems to be the fact that they never explain where the father/husband figure is. He supposedly abandons his family after impregnating his wife (for the second time, mind you). This brings me to the second plot hole. The age difference between the two daughters, if I remember correctly, is something like 9 years. If they have the same father, why did it take him 9 years to realize they weren't worth staying with when I wanted to leave them after the first 30 minutes? If you know the answer to this, please share it with me.

Then there is the apartment they live in. The family supposedly moves every time Locklear's character gets dumped. The movie also drills into the viewers head how poor the family is. They somehow seem to be able to afford a moderately sized NYC apartment, well furnished, in a seemingly nice part of town. They can also afford internet access for Duff's brand new laptop, all on Locklear's baker salary.

Duff's character makes a best friend at school before she even gets inside the building. Am I the only person who finds this unlikely? Halfway through the movie the friend disappears with no explanation. Once she serves her purpose, she leaves, and no one seems to miss her.

Locklear works as a baker at a bakery, as I mentioned earlier, and is pursued by a coworker throughout the movie. At first it would seem this is meant for comic relief, as he is retarded and wholly unlikable as a person. They go on a date, it doesn't go well, and we think that's the end of him. The writers, however, seemed to have a different idea when writing the script. He keeps coming back, for no reason, and each time he did I grew more and more furious, especially the moment (I won't give it away for those of you who still want to see the movie) when he does something so outrageous, so enormously unbelievable, that I could not believe what was actually happening on screen.

The younger sister's character is completely pointless. Not only is she obnoxious and annoying, she does nothing. She adds nothing to the movie, but takes away plenty. It did not help that the actress playing her is a horrible actress. I realize she's just a kid, but still. Unacceptable.

I can not stress to you enough how horrible this movie is. It was embarrassing enough asking for a ticket to the movie, and after seeing it I understand why the ticket taker could not help laughing at me.

I cannot believe I saw this movie. I'm embarrassed to even ADMIT..that I've seen it. ugh. IT WAS TERRIBLE. the movie was so choppy..the story was way off. MANY parts of the film did not run smoothly..and did NOT (for the life of me) make any sense. The concept itself is so poorly fabricated that no one..not even a 5 year old- could come up with enough imagination to make this movie work. Hilary Duff's acting is nothing new from her previous films. Heather Locklear does not suit the role of desperate single mom. However I have to say...the youngest actor on set was quite adorable. Punchline: save your $ - watch something else. You'd be better off staying in and renting...

Yet we are supposed to see Holly's antics as cute. Well... they aren't.

Holly is a girl with major issues. Her mom keeps moving when she can't find a boyfriend, and then Holly and her little sister Zoe decide to make a fictional man for her. With her stereotypically Brooklyn sidekick, they wreak all sorts of havoc just to make sure their mom doesn't find out about the man that they based the perfect man off of.

My girlfriend liked it... and I have no idea why.

This is perhaps one of the worst movies ever made, with laughable dialogue and about TEN MINUTES of AIM conversations with the untalented actors saying what they are typing as if the audience can't read. Judging the IQ of those who like Hillary Duff and this kind of movie, and the state of today's public schools I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of them can't read.

This really is NOT a good movie for kids. The characters have no redeeming value whatsoever and the family is very disturbing to say the least.

All the minor characters have no depth and are just comic stereotypes such as "witty black woman" and "flamboyant and sex-obsessed gay man" and "geek in love with pretty girl who really is kind of ugly and a ditzy bleached blonde (I'd pick Kat Dennings or Lindsay Lohan over Hillary Duff. So would any male.)"

There are a lot of people giving high scores to this movie but I suspect they're just Hillary Duff fans. From a neutral standpoint, this is perhaps the worst movie ever written. It's almost comically bad, but the whole... so bad it's good thing really is best for sci fi movies like Dark Star or Hercules in New York. Not for ditzy chick flicks.

Parents, it's actually better to let your kids see an evil raunchy comedy such as Wedding Crashers or 40 year old Virgin. They have more moral messages than this load of bleach.

Great movie for a light hearted time at the movies. The reviewer who saw "microphones" above the actors heads was totally WRONG!! They were referring to "booms" and I watched the whole movie and saw exactly NONE. I was looking for them after that review and would have seen them if they were there. That review put a damper on the movie for my wife and I as we were looking for those flaws and it distracted a little from the true enjoyment that we had watching this movie. We are in our 50's and still liked this movie. It is not a chick flick and did not show any microphones. The acting was great and even Chris Noth was able to pull off the comedy. This story has a lot of humor and Hilliary Duff was fantastic.

Jean (Heather Locklear) is a cake decorator/maker who drags her two daughters to a new locale every time a man dumps her. One of the daughters, Holly (Hillary Duff), is getting tired of the whole arrangement. This time, when the family moves to Brooklyn, Holly wants to put down roots. But, mother must be kept happy. Therefore, Holly begins a search and a deception about finding the perfect man for her mother. Along the way, Holly is almost ready to experience her first close friendship, too. What could possibly go awry? This is a very sweet confection for those who find themselves drawn to romantic comedy. Locklear is delightful, why doesn't someone sign her up for three or four more of these kinds of things? Duff is also wonderful and engaging, she should receive more credit for her work on screen than she does. Chris Noth does charm as the love interest, too. Brooklyn looks spectacular, the costumes are lovely, and the script is snappy and fun. Ladies, do go to view this movie and bring friends and significant others. You will like what you see.

I expected this to be a mostly mushy movie with mother-daughter bonding, with them trying to make the mom see how great she is. It was definitely NOT that. The first half of the movie is surprisingly funny. Very funny, especially for carrying the burden of 'a Hilary duff movie'. You'll be surprised. The middle starts out a bit nerve wracking as Holly tries to keep her scheme going, and then the movie gets depressing. A good part of the end is depressing, I won't give away too many details but Locklear's character reveals more about how she became a single mother and over the computer she and her daughter unknowingly realize how much they don't appreciate each other. Then, of course, there is the obligatory happy end. If you'd like to see a movie that won't depress you, or something fun with a friend, this is your movie.

If someone ever asks "Which is the odd one out amongst Rosanna Arquette, Marilyn Monroe, Cindy Crawford and Hilary Duff?" you can answer "Rosanna, because she's the only one to actually have a good song written about her." Australian "Popstars" winner Scott Cain's "I've Got A Crush On Hilary Duff" is absolutely appalling, and the accompanying video (featuring a Duff lookalike who resembles her about as much as Marianne Jean-Baptiste) is equally dire; but it does have the effect of ensuring nothing Hilary will ever do in her career will be as unbearable. Which brings us to "The Perfect Man."

The movie feels distressingly television-ish in everything from its cast (Hilary, Heather Locklear, Chris Noth, Mike O'Malley, Caroline Rhea, Carson Kressley from "Queer Eye For The Straight Guy"...) to its use of music; too bad the TV movies that Universal used to release overseas back in the 1970s were all much more fun. By all accounts, the actual incident that inspired this movie was genuinely interesting, but once filtered through screenwriter Gina Wendkos and director Mark Rosman the result is bland, remarkably unfunny and almost totally unromantic. This isn't entirely the fault of the actors, who can hardly be blamed for what they have to work with (although Vanessa Lengies does at least get to have some fun with her role as Hilary's new best friend, and Mike O'Malley and Carson Kressley perk things up a bit as a besotted-with-Heather fan of Styx and a gay bartender. (Although when you think about it, why is the latter here?)

Any potential sweetness is wiped out by increasingly contrived writing throughout (a classic case of sledgehammer foreboding comes when our heroine is in class discussing her plan to help her mum finally feel secure enough in her life to not keep moving, while her teacher is discussing "Oh what a tangled web we weave...") and some unbelievable plot twists towards the end; the sickly songs and underscore by Christophe Beck and the clumsy finale are the fatal blows. It's never really awful, just a bit deadening.

Still, at least this got a British cinema release (unlike the direct-to-DVD "Raise Your Voice"), and those who find Hilary Duff sufficiently cute may be able to take it. But ultimately this is only for die-hard fans of the Duffster, or people who enjoy seeing Heather Locklear bombing on the big screen as much as she has on the little one. Or anyone who wants to recreate the feeling of watching a dreary afternoon of Children's BBC or Nickelodeon on the big screen, but minus the shouty announcers and the tendency to squish up the end credits.

i saw this movie last night....can anyone who saw it please confirm with me that the microphones were shown above the actors head's through at least 1/2 of the film? other than that the movie was borderline great! despite some of the awful reviews you might have read by some critics i would still highly recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys Hilary duff, and mother-daughter types of films! this movie made me laugh a few times, even though everyone else in the entire movie theater was busting up laughing at the viewing of the microphones in almost every shot! i still do not believe that the whole plot of the movie sucked, in fact it wasn't even that bad!

I have never seen a Hillary Duff movie. I like Heather Lochlear but am not a huge fan. I love Chris Noth and am a huge Sex In the City fan. I did not expect to like this movie at all, but I really did. I went because someone I care about invited me along and when I heard "Mr. Big " was in the movie, I went. I usually wait until the DVD for most movies but I so enjoyed this movie on the big screen(Heather, Hillary, Chris and especially little Aria are all looking good) What an unexpected surprise. The story was real (based on a true story), the script and lines were well done. It was funny, corny at times but funny. Everyone I went with said the same thing, "Wow, I wasn't expecting that!" It's a movie that you can take your date to (especially if you are a single parent)and/or your kids.

The Perfect Man reviewed by Sam Osborn

rating: 3 out of 4

Director: Mark Rosman Cast: Hilary Diff, Heather Locklear, Chris Noth Screenplay: Gina Wendkos MPAA Classification: PG (some mildly suggestive content)

What a pleasant surprise. After hearing all the negative pre-screener gossip about this film, I expected little more than a bad "Lizzie Maguire" knock-off. Instead, The Perfect Man is a delightful little film about a teenager at odds with her mother's date and move lifestyle. And although the film does exactly what we expect it to, it doesn't try anything stupid along the way. It does what it comes to do and does it well. The actors and screenplay make the characters likable enough to allow The Perfect Man to blossom into a quiet little hit.

It opens in sparse Wichita, Kansas, where Holly (Hilary Duff) is trying on her new dress for the school dance. "I've been to million schools, but zero dances," she says, looking at herself quizzically in the mirror. Holly's mother, Jean Hamilton (Heather Locklear), accidentally had Holly sixteen years earlier and has been serially single ever since, moving from town to town after each failed relationship. And as Holly finally gets excited about her dress, her mother walks in the door and announces new plans for a move to Brooklyn. Days after moving, Holly's mother is hit on by a Styx-loving loser named Lenny (Mike O'Mally). Classy as she is, she's also desperate and accepts a date to the Styx concert that weekend. Dispirited by her mother's desperate loneliness, Holly hatches a plan to create the perfect man for her mother. Utilizing her best friend's uncle, Ben (Chris Noth), whom she eavesdropped giving advice to a friend on lady problems over the phone, Holly researches what Ben does to make a woman tick. Bringing this knowledge to life, Holly builds all Ben's experience into a pretend secret admirer for her mother. First giving Orchids to her mother from the said "secret admirer" and then moving on to a word play love letter complete with mix CD. Problem is, Holly's mother begins to fall in love with this pretend secret admirer and soon Holly finds herself dug in too deep.

If anyone's seen a Hilary Duff film, you know where this is going. But as all formula films go, it's not the story that's the fun, it's the way it's told. Here, the beauty of the telling comes from The Perfect Man's characters. Duff's character, Holly, is interesting in that she struggles to find a life for herself between living one for her mother as the secret admirer. This makes Holly's story almost a bildungsroman, a coming-of-age story held within the formula guidelines. Hilary Duff does OK with the role, giving it the likable charm she gives to all her characters. But sometimes the dialogue throws some real clankers her way, putting a wrench in her acting style. These clunky lines however, are mostly used to exude the message to the younger audiences who may not pick up the more subtle hints. Heather Locklear also does well in her role as the single mother whose strength is snipped by a string of poor relationships. But Chris Noth in particular, playing the uncle, really shines as the suave dad who knows the ins and outs of a successful chase for the opposite sex. Best known for his role in "Sex and the City" as Big (John), Noth tones his style down here to fit perfectly into the forgiving dad role. Also interesting is Holly's love diversion, who's a surprisingly quirky comic book enthusiast. I like the role because it doesn't make him into a typical comic book nerd. His character is written to be funny and oddly cool, not lonely and homely with bulletproof-lensed glasses. It's one of the unique steps The Perfect Man takes to cause it to stand apart, if just for a little bit, from the rest of the pre-teen film crowd.

Message is always a key element to this genre of films. Most take the path of "be yourself," which don't get me wrong, is a fine message. But it's blatantly overused. The Perfect Man forgoes this cliché and goes with another, equally useful message: don't settle. What's nice is that the message fits with the rest of the film and applies to each relationship the mother and the daughter deal with. Sometimes messages are an afterthought added to make parents happy, even though the entire rest of the film has nothing to do with it. Here, the message fits and is finally something new and important for the pre-teen crowd to be aware of.

The Perfect Man is simple, quaint and cute, something rarely seen in pre-teen dramas these days. It doesn't revel in fart jokes or bitchy high school drama and holds itself together nicely, remembering to keep each character's story moving. The Perfect Man tells the story it comes to tell and does it nicely. There's nothing in it that'll blow your socks off, but it'll leave you with a smile on your face.

I went with my mom and sis, and we were all looking forward to a good, fun, cute movie. First of all, I have nothing against Hilary Duff. I used to be a big Lizzie Mcguire fan (I was a tween when it began), but

let's be serious. She's, how old now? The awkward cutesy teen thing doesn't work as well as it used to. I expected her performance, but I did not expect this movie to be so bad.

The acting was lackluster. I was really let down by Locklear's performance. Also the story was dumb and creepy. What type of daughter has a fake relationship with their mom like that? It's creepy. AVOID THIS MOVIE AT ALL COSTS!!!!!!

This is by far the worst movie I've ever seen. People who put this in the Sneak Preview at the cinema are purely sadistic. To think I actually paid money to see it brings tears to my eyes. This movie sucks in every way possible, and I can't imagine any person in his right mind who would watch this movie sober. OK when you put it on mute (which is unfortunately impossible to do at a cinema, unless you press your hands against your ears and yell as hard as you can not to hear a sound from the movie, which is actually recommendable), you still get some nice shots of Hilary Duff, but with sound she's is even more annoying than the movie as a whole. This movie sucks. There should be precaution labels on the movie posters like on packs of cigarettes, please do not go see this movie for the sake of sanity.