The Perfect Match (2016)

"The Perfect Match" wasn't exactly the perfect movie. The acting was mediocre, the cinematography was just there, and the editing was garbage. I think this film was nothing but a cheap knock off of Eddie Murphy's "Boomerang". There is a nice little plot twist in this film but it's not enough to make it a good film, in my opinion. Although this film is what I consider a knock off Eddie Murphy's "Boomerang", it still had the potential to be a great film. Maybe if they hired another cast and had another director this film probably could have been a gem, not saying that the actors in this film were so bad they couldn't play in anything else, it's just that this film wasn't really for them, if that makes any sense. If you're planning on watching this film don't expect too much. Just sit back and watch it.

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.

. . . as a thematic remake of LAST TANGO IN PAR!S, only in an American Urban Setting. Terence Jenkins is cast in the Marlon Brando role, Boffing a random Bride-to-Be right through her final Pure White Dress fitting, just as Brando had earlier. However, THE PERFECT MATCH surrounds Bride Poker Jenkins with a gaggle of loquacious friends, so that a copious outpouring of verbal diarrhea can be substituted for 99.9% of LAST TANGO's sex. THE PERFECT MATCH constitutes the perfect film to watch any time you find yourself trapped for a night in a small one-bed suite with an attractive-but-married supervisor, coworker, or subordinate due to a hotel booking error, and you need to put something on the TV that's such an erotic wet blanket\total sensual snuff out that you'll surely be asleep before your unexpected roommate can finish brushing their teeth. Additionally, THE PERFECT MATCH is carefully constructed to make its target audience feel great about our stake in America, as its work-places, homes, and furnishings should prove easily within reach for anyone making it through eighth grade at the average L.A., Detroit, or Newark middle school.

Romantic comedies have changed a bit since their late nineties/early two thousands heyday. Gone are the days of Julia Roberts being, "just a girl, in front of a boy, asking him to love her." It seems somewhere around 2005, Hollywood finally got the message and decided unrealistic, overly romantic gestures like stopping the girl at the airport, or stopping her from marrying the wrong guy at the altar was just a tad too much. Thus we get something like The Perfect Match, a movie sans the final act clichés but still clinging to old attitudes about men and women.Charlie (Jenkins) is just not the dating type. Living large as a successful music agent and budding photographer, Charlie spends his days meeting up with, and quickly discarding a bevy of attractive women. His friends; a regular cabal of walking stock-characters, tell him he should settle down lest he spend his life alone. Then he meets Karen (Hawk) a women who wants to escape from the long-term relationship feedback loop. "I just want something without any attachments," she says to Charlie as the two get to know each other. Thus what starts as a simple arrangement between two young, attractive people, turns into something more complicated.Despite some welcomed changes to the genre, The Perfect Match is beat by beat, very beholden to a comedic style that hasn't been in vogue since the nineties. Charlie and his friends Victor (Riley) and Rick (Faison) joke around about how unreasonable, shrewish and/or costly their women are while falling into sitcom dad situations that could easily be avoided if they communicated better. Charlie's sister Sherry (Patton) takes no time explaining to the audience that she's a therapist and delves into Charlie's inner thoughts before we even have the time to get to know him. The first act is so paint by numbers that there's actually something kind of appealing to the menagerie of dated gender role jokes. It's like peering into the psyche of a Bill Burr fan or the Facebook feed of a college sophomore; it's all "women be like _______" jokes.The characterizations vary not just actor to actor but scene to scene. One minute Robert Christopher Riley's character is noticeably panicked about the cost of his wedding to his fiancée Ginger (London). The next moment he's completely zen without much resolution. Cassie Ventura leans into the testy Latina stereotype which surprisingly is the most consistent and interesting supporting character in the film. Faison brings much needed levity whenever he's on screen but he, along with everyone else is still just reading their lines, collecting a paycheck and going home.The exact same thing can be said about the main romance, which lacks everything but the bare cliché. Largely established with a coiling array of lovemaking scenes set to R&B music, Jenkins and Hawk seem completely at odds with each other. The chemistry was wholly absent and provides no warmth the audience can cling to. When our smitten hero comes face to face with the perfunctory third act romantic misunderstanding, his reaction is complete overkill, given the fact that he barely knows Karen.In-spite of all it's various faults, I cannot deny this movie will be exactly what many are looking for. It's a de-fanged romantic comedy with a salient moral about not being a scrub. It provides some fun eye-candy for both sexes and it wasn't directed terribly. In-fact I would argue this kind of material is beneath director Bille Woodruff who has a way with composition and ensemble blocking. It's not Love & Basketball (2000), heck it's not even Think Like a Man (2012) but at least it's heart is in the right place.