This Film is Strangely Offensive
I first want to clarify that I have no issue with light entertainment for the sake of light entertainment--and I can appreciate how a more "insubstantial" film could appeal to those looking for a pleasant two hours at the movies. However, I recently saw "The Perfect Man" and was at amazed at how while the movie tries superficially to be as sweet as possible (the mother is even an expert cake-maker), it's really unintentionally dark, mean-spirited, and unusually offensive.
First of all, the fictionalized man Duff's character creates for her mother is a remarkably cruel lie (and just because it's "well-intentioned" doesn't make it less nasty). The scene where Duff sets off a sprinkler system just to perpetuate that lie by preventing the mother from meeting "Ben" is uncalled for. Obviously, it was a sloppy plot device to make sure the two characters didn't meet; however, the film attempts to present such destructive behavior as acceptable and not stepping way over the boundaries--it's handled like some perfectly inconsequential and necessary action. Why doesn't anything come of this--surely major charges would be brought against the girl? And there would most certainly be thousands of dollars in water damage to the restaurant.
Secondly (and even more offensive) was the terribly cliché gay character (played flamboyantly by the most notable of the "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" cast). It's disturbing how offensively one-dimensional and superficial he is (the character isn't presented as a realistic relatable gay male, but instead exists solely for the audience to laugh at his flamboyantly gay tendencies--he's purely an object to mock). His dialogue is terribly cliché:
"Wait, what could be more important than the perfect man? Oh, duh--the perfect shoes."
His character is so marginalized that he's treated like a commodity--popping in when necessary with his superficially witty gay humor. It gets even worse when he attempts to woo the construction workers from across the street as the movie assumes that just because they're a group of sweaty men, the gay guy must immediately be attracted to them (and don't forget the "Jets" "West Side Story" joke because this guy, since apparently gays have no pop culture knowledge of sports, must immediately draw upon his love for musicals). And finally the last scene at the football game where the macho straight guys stand up with their beers and the gay character pulls out a glass of red wine (and then comments that he hopes the Jets make it to the World Series) is absurdly offensive.
What bothered me the most (and, considering this is aimed directly at Duff's young audience, one must consider the "message" the film presents) is that these very nasty actions and offensive clichés are completely sugarcoated under the guise of a cutesy Hilary Duff romantic comedy. I have to think the hilariously contrived "happy ending" (Duff gets guy, Locklear gets guy, they stay in NYC, younger sister wins spelling bee, Locklear wins cake contest, and gay guy gets straight football friends) was just the writers' consolation for such a narrow and mean-spirited film--as though putting a big gaudy bow on at the end would cancel out the rest of the movie.
Not a single moment in this film felt authentic and, for such a PG family film, it presents a very muddled message.
Michael