Seriously…. how many movies are they going to make where a passionate lover turns out to be a murderous psychopath? They’re not even spacing them out well enough to make audiences forget they’re recycling the same concept. And, apparently, based on this newest incarnation they’re only getting worse. Let’s try to keep this short and sweet.
The Perfect Guy stars Sanaa Lathan as a
middle-aged, pristine political lobbyist who grows tired of her relationship with Morris Chestnut due to his unwillingness to commit to a future. Before they can establish even an ounce of onscreen chemistry, they split and within a few weeks, she is swept off of her feet by quiet romantic Carter Duncan (Michael Ealy). She then spends the following days moving insanely quickly and making poor decisions like introducing this man to her parents before even seeing the inside of his apartment. And as you can expect, she dumps him after his dormant psychopathic tendencies begin to surface and he begins stalking her.
Most of the problems with this movie are the same issues that plague every other film in this genre right down to the predictable violent showdown at the end. In fact, the movie seems to notice its own formulaic nature, because it rushes through the early, conventional exposition so fast that Chestnut and Ealy are both dumped before you can even remember what their characters’ names are. The entire sequence of predictable events might be somewhat entertaining if the characters have some weight, but they’re just as generic and uninteresting as something you’d find in a Lifetime movie. And it’s a shame, because I know from their previous works that most of the cast are good at what they do.
I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with recycling a used concept. Superhero movies and horror films do it all the time. But if you’re going to make a cliché film, at least give it something more than just an attractive set of lead actors. Even the mediocre No Good Deeds had some semblance of a twist at the end. You may get a kick out of seeing Michael Ealy act creepy for an hour and a half. But I can think of several better ways to spend money and time.
FINAL GRADE: F