Movie Monday: The Perfect Guy

The Perfect Guy is an uninspired thriller that coasts on its overqualified cast.  Sanaa Latham was the best part of Alien vs. Predator, and she's one of the best parts of The Perfect Guy.  She plays Leah, a driven woman who has a great career, great house, and great boyfriend (Morris Chesnut).  But Dave isn't ready to get married or have kids and Leah is tired of waiting.  I liked how Latham played her heartbreak as she made the hard decision.

Three months later, and Leah has found another man: Carter.  Michael Ealy has an amazing smile and loads of charisma, so it is little wonder that Leah would fall so hard, so fast.  Especially when she takes him to meet her parents and he's ridiculously charming.  However, when she witnesses a sudden violent episode she's not willing to stick around and see if it is a one-off or if he'd ever direct that anger at her.

Spoiler alert: he would.

What follows has very little tension.  Ealy is inspired casting, because his pale blue eyes can look quite creepy indeed and he plays the change in energy for his character perfectly.  Most of the other cast members are wasted.  Leah's parents only appear the once, and her two best friends are little more than props for Leah to tell her thoughts too.  There is a cop who gets a bit more to do.  The Perfect Guy did do a good job of showing how difficult it is to build a stalking and/or harassment case.

I did enjoy seeing The Perfect Guy in the theater because the audience I saw it with was very responsive.  It's hard to describe the sound everyone made when Carter stuck Leah's toothbrush in his mouth, but it was the exact sound that scene deserved.  (That was definitely one of the movie's most memorable and original scenes.)

The Perfect Guy is a route thriller.  If you like that sort of thing, it does have an appealing cast.  But I'd say this is one to catch when it comes on late one night or to rent from the library.  It's not a movie I'd pay full price for.