One man’s goal to win a silly bet with friends sends him on a one way road to “The Perfect Match”. Urban film director Bille Woodruff presents his latest film revolving around the brutal world of dating, with a side of comedic humor sprinkled throughout. Charlie (Terrence J Corwley) is a suave playboy who’s convinced that relationships are dead even though his sister Pressie (Dascha Polanco), a therapist, tries to tell him otherwise. His best friends bet him that if he sticks to one woman for one month, he’s bound to fall in love. Charlie takes the bet because he believes that he’s immune to love. That is until he crosses paths with the beautiful and mysterious Eva (Cassie Ventura). Turning on his irresistible charm, Charlie coaxes Eva into a casual affair but soon finds out that Eva has turned the tables on him. Now Charlie is questioning whether he may actually want more than just a one night stand, and just how much he’s willing to change his life for it. “The Perfect Match” is rated R for some sexuality, nudity and language.
Bille Woodruff sure has directed something bizarre here. “The Perfect Match” is a cheaply styled, stereotypically written Cinemax Softcore porn train that never feels like it’s riding on one consistent track. The story feels jumbled in execution because there are more than a couple times when the movie and it’s storylines just stop for either a scene that feels like the worst in one subject improv, or the several musical montages that the movie sucks the well dry on. For anyone who has ever watched one of these late night movies, you will understand the concept of fifteen minutes of development time, then a sex scene. Rinse, dry, repeat. The sex scenes aren’t even shot in any kind of artistic way. They happen so fast (and with clothes on) that you wonder why they even exist. There’s certainly enough of them in a script that is very flacid for such a committed drive to sex. For 91 minutes, the movie offers very little positives in the way of countless laughably bad cliches for this kind of film. We’ve all seen countless examples of a character too good for relationships, so he decides to give a chance to the wrong girl who ends up being “The One”. So what supplies “The Perfect Match” with the need to see it? Very little.
There were some moments in the film that did involve some decent laughs. Nothing of the gut-busting nature, but I did manage to chuckle a couple of times when the movie felt the most honest. For instance, one of the male supporting characters is worried about the outrageous costs of a wedding ceremony. This concern, as well as his reactions to these price drops actually gave the movie tolerance, and never really made this a boring sit. I think a lot of the comedy positives has a lot to do with this film being rated R. It’s not a rating that is necessary. There is no nudity or anything of major crude humor, but you will be thankful that the film supplies us with a couple of these dirty words during scenes that feel like silhouettes are chatting with each other.
The characters never feel like anything that we can relate to. A lot of that isn’t JUST because of their rich backgrounds, but because these are the kinds of people you witness while watching a Saturday Night Live skit. No chances are taken from their character traits, so for the men we receive these bonehead frat boys whose only focus is sex. For the ladies, they are only focused on getting married and having kids. Such complex characters written by Brandon Broussard, the very same man who penned Tyler Perry’s “House of Pain” TV show. It’s because of such a gap in relatable content why this movie just doesn’t feel intriguing to me. There is a chance at the beginning of the third act to branch off Charlie’s past and the kinds of effects the loss of his parents has had on his psyche, but no. The movie just passes through them like a walk through rain drops.
Heading into the final act, there really isn’t a lot that kept what dwindling interest I had from floating away. One positive that I can say is that at least the ending isn’t predictable, and the film cares a little more about sticking to its rules, instead of abandoning them with the sinking ship. I admire that this film stuck to its guns on an ending that won’t always send its audience home happy.
Overall, “The Perfect Match” just doesn’t quite meet the kind of expectations that we set for ourselves in a 21st century rom-com. Woodruff and his cardboard cutouts doesn’t create anything memorable in a film with no emotional depth. If this is the best that Jorva Entertainment Productions can offer us for romantic substance, then I choose to break up with this perfect match.
3/10