Sorry Ladies, "The Perfect Man" Is Already Taken.

The Perfect Man (2005)
Rated PG for Language

Starring Hilary Duff, Heather Locklear, Aria Wallace, Chris Noth,

Directed by Mark Rosman

The Story:

Whenever Jean (Locklear) gets dumped by a man, she picks up her family of 2 daughters: Holly (Duff) and Zoe (Wallace) and starts over in a new city.  This time, they wind up in New York where she takes a job in a bakery.  Holly has a blog and tells the world about their adventures, but she's tired of picking up and moving all the time.  Jean gets hit on by the wrong guys again, and Holly wants her mom to find the perfect man.  When her new friend Amy (Vanessa Lengies) introduces Holly to her uncle Ben (Noth) she begins to pick his brain and create the perfect "secret admirer" for her mom.  Ah, but when you mess with the heart, things could take a turn for the worse...

I'm not sure exactly when we saw this one for the first time, but I remember we all loved it.

It's a cute little romantic comedy, filled with lots of humor...

And the greatest Styx cover band of all time! ;)

Mr. Roboto!

Heather Locklear still looks great, and plays close to her age in the film.  That's a rare occurrence in films these days.

Noth is suitably charming, winning over Holly's adoration, but can she translate that into a relationship with her mother?

And kudos to Duff for not being one of the teen actresses who has fallen off the deep end in her career. 

Wow...Lindsay has lost her mind...and clothes...again.

Yes, Lohan, Cyrus and Bynes, I'm looking in your direction.

Naturally, depression struck our house when the copy we had wound up with numerous scratches and would skip or freeze.

Thankfully, a replacement copy has been obtained.

Wonder how long it will hold up?

:)

Final Grade: B+

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor:  The whole family watches it, and I would safely say it gets a minimum of one play a year.  And that's just when I'm home and paying attention. ;)

Verily, E'en Shakespeare Wouldst Approveth..."She's The Man"

She's The Man (2006)
Rated PG-13 for language

Starring Amanda Bynes, Channing Tatum,
Directed by Andy Fickman

Written By William Shakespeare.  Sort of.

Return to those thrilling days of yesterday when Amanda Bynes hadn't lost her mind yet...


The Story:

If you've read Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, get ready to see it turned on its ear.  If you haven't, you're about to get the general idea of the play, but with a modern twist.  Viola (Bynes) is a girl soccer player whose school cuts girls soccer!  She wants to join the boys team, but they reject the idea of a female playing with the guys.  So she hatches a plan to take her twin brother Sebastian's (James Kirk) place at a rival school.  She dudes up and ends up rooming with Duke (Tatum).  Naturally, a love triangle ensues because Duke has eyes for Olivia Laura Ramsey) but she won't give him the time of day...she's got eyes only for Sebastian (Bynes!) and Sebastian ... Viola... is totally falling for Duke!

Let the madcappery ensue!

This movie is flat out funny, from start to finish.

Wisely, they take the basic premise of Shakespeare's work, and keep that, but jettison the language with the update to the modern setting.

No offense, but every Shakespeare update that goes modern age, yet keeps the language never works for me.

But, update the work, keep the ideas/plot/characters... it seems to work.

It may just be me, but that's my story, and I'm sticking to it!

Must Look Away From the Tatum!

Yes, I watch this movie, and then I just sit back and sigh.

So much potential from Ms. Bynes, and it seems to go off the rails into a trainwreck of life.

Thankfully, we'll always have the movies.

All of the supporting characters are great character actors who support the story perfectly.  Vinnie Jones is great as the soccer coach who brings Sebastian up to the main team by watching the effort put forth by a former second stringer.

I Could Kill You With Me Bare 'ands...

David Cross is hilarious as Gold, the absent minded headmaster, and really, the movie is just filled with comedic gems from start to finish.

The cast and writers make Shakespeare's comedy of identity swap work wonderfully on so many levels.

The fun revelation of course, is Channing Tatum.  This is before he was Channing Tatum!  It's his first co-starring role, as Step Up was on the horizon when this came out.

But Tatum is hilarious as the jock who Viola pines for, and his sense of comedic timing is exceptional.

Channing Tatum: Tampon Spokesman

The kid's got a future in Hollywood.

:)

Good for a laugh any, and every, time it hits the DVD player.

Final Grade: A

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I would say this gets played at least once a year in the house, and I do own it.