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Overview
The Perfect Match largely follows the same old formula you may have seen in other romantic movies, but what makes this different is a predominately Black cast and a twist or two.
Summary (with Commentary)
For more than 20 years Charlie (Terrence Jenkins) has been known amongst his friends for his inability to commit. That is despite his best friend Ginger (Lauren London) and Victor (Robert Christopher Riley) being high school sweethearts, on their way to marriage, and Rick (Donald Faison) being married and trying to start a family with Pressie (Dascha Polanco). But then things change when Charlie encounters Eva (Cassie Ventura). A woman who seemingly wants what Charlie does. Sex with no strings attached. However, as the two grow being dropping their clothes as soon as they can find somewhere private, it seems Charlie may have met his match. Problem is, they both made a promise not to catch feelings and it’s unknown if Eva maybe willing to walk back from that agreement.
Things To Note
- Brandy fans, she is barely in this film but for one scene.
- Timothy DeLaGhetto fans, he also is in the movie for but one scene.
- French Montana has more screen time than the two names above put together.
Highlights
Well Off Black People Who Don’t Seem Boogie: To me, the characters of this film are neither trying to fit into some respectability politics role nor trying to be so down that they are laughable. I believe that each character has that balance of being a participant in modern black culture yet also being someone of affluence. To put it another way, this film doesn’t seem like it features a bunch of character who easily could be replaced with actors from another ethnic group. The dialog fits what you would expect them to say and even for the characters which could be considered, for a lack of a better term, less urban like Sherry (Paula Patton), they don’t seem fake or inauthentic, but simply someone who isn’t about the same lifestyle choices as her peers. Plus, she is older than the rest so one could argue it is also to show her maturity.
For Those Looking For Beautiful Bodies, Especially Women, You Are In Luck: Despite an R rating, more so that comes from the language than nudity. However, if you are a person interested in Terrence Jenkins’ abs, or just want to see a lot of women’s behinds, this movie might be for you.
Low Points
The Movie Follows A Familiar Romance Film Trajectory: As with most romance films, there is a chance encounter that blooms into something more, and then something is revealed which ruins it all. Something which leads to a meltdown, lashing out and, if you are like me, you rolling your eyes. Then being surprised how quickly the person is forgiven despite how deep they cut with what they say.
Eva Is Barely Developed: Does Cassie have a decent amount of chemistry with Terrence J? Yes. Are we made aware she has a job? Yup. But what exactly she does, well who knows? Also, despite her little speech towards the end, I feel like there is so much to her that just isn’t revealed and it frustrates me for it ultimately makes her character feel like a beautiful girl who enters Charlie’s life just to be a catalyst.
Victor, Ginger, Pressie, and Rick seem a bit underdeveloped: Despite finding out what Ginger and Rick do for a living, the same isn’t really said for Victor of Pressie. Also, when it comes to Rick and Pressie, we don’t learn about their relationship history as we do with Ginger and Victor. On top of that, it is sort of hard to understand how Charlie’s friends became a unit nearly 20 units ago and didn’t end up separating with time. I say this mostly because they don’t seem like the type of friends who would have stuck together after the convenience of seeing each other all day in high school ended.
On The Fence
The Twist Was Unexpected, but Then Things Went An Expected Trajectory: Is the twist in the movie major? No. However, it was something certainly unexpected and did lead me to believe this film could have gone to some grey area. One in which Charlie could have really questioned how much he was really in love with Eva and how willing he was to fight for her. After all, she seems like the one but the news he gets changes everything. Sadly, though, the way the film handles said situation is just with a meltdown, lashing out, and etc.
The Death Of Charlie And Sherry’s Parents Seems To Be Something Major, But Barely Touched On: Sherry’s role to me is sort of in a weird place. She isn’t in it enough to be a major force, yet not in it so much I can really form an opinion on her. Yet, she has a place in the film for she is Charlie’s sister and the only means we really have to possibly understand how he became a womanizer. But with there only being one scene addressing their parents’ death, and perhaps a quick rush past how they died, sometimes it seems like her role could have, or should have, been bigger, but it got cut. Which I can’t tell if that is a good thing or not for while there is the potential of her talking about their upbringing and breaking down how Charlie became the way he is, his friends are already underdeveloped as is. So unless they were cut and it was just about Charlie womanizing and his sister, who is a therapist, by the way, trying to set him straight, I’m unsure how this would play out.
Final Thought(s): TV Viewing
This to me seems like the type of film which BET would air if they did more original movies. For while Cassie and Terrence are cute together, and there are a few attempts at jokes, there isn’t anything I can really come up with which makes this seem like something worth going to a theater for. Charlie’s emotional development is familiar, Eva ends up basically a pretty face which pushes Charlie to grow up and push his life forward, and both Charlie’s friends and family just aren’t given the development needed to be interesting despite their varied troubles.
For despite Victor losing hours at work, Pressie having troubles getting pregnant, and Sherry seeming like her life is a Shonda Rhimes TV show in the making, there is just never enough presented to latch onto. Hence the TV Viewing label. If only because, to me, cute the cursing and barely covering anything underwear, and creative camera angles, and what you have is a decent TV movie.
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