The Perfect Man

The Perfect Man is a 2005 romantic comedy drama film directed by Mark Rosman and written by Gina Wendkos.It stars Hilary Duff, Heather Locklear and Chris Noth. It is rated PG for some mildly suggestive content. The film was both a critical and commercial failure.

Tagline: The story of a family that wanted it all. Never settle.

Plot

Single mother Jean (Heather Locklear) moves every time she gets her heart broken by another guy, much to the dismay of her teenager daughter, Holly (Hilary Duff). Holly devises a plan to invent a secret admirer for her mother, so she'll be happy and stop moving. Holly overhears her friend Amy's (Vanessa Lengies) uncle Ben (Chris Noth) ordering flowers for a woman, and decides to use his advice on women (which she aquires by telling him she needs help for a school project on romance). Following Ben's advice, she sends her mother orchids and other gifts and love notes, and is soon communicating with her mother as this fictitious admirer (who Holly names Ben) via the internet. As her mother becomes more interested, Holly has to find a photo of this admirer (she sends one of the real Ben), and then devise a reason they can't meet in person (she claims he is working in China).

While she is developing the cyber romance between her mother and fake Ben, and preventing her mother and the real Ben from meeting in person, she finds herself drawn to a cute, artistic boy in her class, Adam (Ben Feldman), but is unwilling to get close to anyone due to her history of being uprooted and having to say goodbye so often.

As the charade continues, and as Holly spends more time with Ben while picking his brain for romance tips, she slowly begins to see qualities in Ben which make her believe he is her mother's 'perfect man.' Unfortunately there is no way her mother can ever meet the real Ben without Holly's plan being exposed. When Holly mistakenly believes Ben is marrying someone else, she disrupts the wedding to tell Ben he should be with her mother - not noticing he is there as the best man, not the groom. An angry Ben follows her out and makes her tell him the full story. Holly then goes to her mother and admits the truth, begging for them to move again. Her mother is humiliated but decides to stay, finding a new job and for once trying to rebuild her life without running away. Meanwhile Ben is intrigued by what Holly told him about her mother, and with Holly's help, Jean and Ben finally meet and Jean finds her 'perfect man' at last. Holly also seems on the road to her perfect man, as now she has some stability in her life, she finally opens up and admits her feelings for Adam.

Filming Facts

On the premier, as Holly Hamilton came to screen play, Hilary Duff fainted when she thought she did something wrong. She was standing up, and she said "I fell like..." and never finished the sentence, she dropped her self to the floor and lay there, uncouncious. See main article at Hilary Duff.

Cast

Hilary Duff as Holly Hamilton.
Heather Locklear as Jean Hamilton.
Chris Noth as Uncle Ben.
Mike O'Malley as Lenny.
Aria Wallace as Zoe Hamilton.
Caroline Rhea as Glorie
Vanessa Lengies as Amy
Ben Feldman as Adam.
Carson Kressley as Lance.
Dennis DeYoung as "Dennis DeYoung"

Awards and nominations

2005 Golden Raspberry Awards

One nomination:

Worst Actress (Hilary Duff)

External links

2005 films | Romantic comedy films | Drama films