'Perfect Man' is perfect mess but teen girls may find it appealing

By Margaret A. McGurk
The Cincinnati Enquirer

THE PERFECT MAN (PG) Two and One-Half Stars (Fair-to-Good) Rampant cuteness and urgent heart-to-heart talks are the main ingredients in an otherwise very weird tale about a neurotic mom and her daughter. Hilary Duff, Heather Locklear and Chris Noth star for director Mark Rosman. Universal Pictures, 96 minutes.

They both have the most gorgeous hair and clothes. You will be so jealous.

In the "The Perfect Man" they're mother and daughter who are more like sisters mostly because the mother is so immature. They never stay anywhere long enough to get settled because Jean (Locklear), is constantly chasing men and hooking up with losers. And when they break up, she moves across country — about three times a year.

But her sweet, pretty daughter, Holly (Duff), is weary of living like a refugee, which she has since she was a little kid. Her sister can't enter spelling bees because they move so often, and Holly can't keep friends, one of whom gave her a designer gown that she never got to wear because they suddenly moved to Brooklyn.

That's where Holly and her new friend (Vanessa Lengies) cook up a plot to make Jean think some gorgeous guy she's never met is falling in love with her. Yeah, it's weird; Holly basically ends up writing love letters to her own mom by e-mail.

The fake guy is based on the new friend's uncle, Ben. Chris Noth plays him and he's kinda cute but really dumb.

In the meantime, Holly is kind of falling for this kid in her class (Ben Feldman) who draws fantasy sword-and-sorcerer comics.

But then he gets dragged into Holly's plot concerning her mom and he ends up pretending to be Mr. Perfect on the phone with Jean. Eew!

Anyway, this goes on and on and on and on with Holly ruining Ben's restaurant, almost making her mom move again, and breaking up (almost) with Mr. Artist Guy. Finally her mom fixes things and finally, finally, she gets to wear that darn designer gown.

So ... when does Lindsay Lohan's new movie come out?

Rated PG for some mildly suggestive content.