The Perfect Guy

The worst thing the acclaimed 1987 drama "Fatal Attraction" ever did was make future films revolving around obsessions in relationships suffer by comparison. It seems that whatever films come out revolving around a crush that turns into a lethal obsession, all that needs to be done is reference the classic drama, claim it's better and always will be, and after that, there's no reason to take the successor in question seriously.

While "The Perfect Guy" is far from a solid film, and bears some glaring shortcomings, it has a certain level of appeal that kicks in around the third act, making it morph into a more lively thriller than others of the genre. The film focuses on Leah Vaughn (Sanaa Lathan), a successful woman working in corporate America, who has been building an equally successful relationship with her boyfriend David (Morris Chestnut). One day, however, she recognizes the fact that she's approaching forty and is still unmarried and childless, leading to spontaneously break up with David in the face of an early on-set midlife crisis.

Not long after, Leah meets Carter (Michael Ealy), a suave, charming stranger at a coffee shop, who gives her his iced latte before her's is served. They meet later that night once more, as fate would have it, and Carter romanticizes her with his selfless words and his incredibly easygoing nature and begin dating. However, when a harmless stranger at a gas station is mistaken for a creep and Carter responses with uncompromising brutality, Leah cuts him off from her life. As a result, Carter makes numerous advances towards Leah, taking no for an answer each time, resorting to following her and calling her throughout the day. Leah enlists in the help of Detective Hansen (Holt McCallany), who explains how difficult it is to persecute a rampant stalker without concrete evidence of life-threatening harassment, all while Carter's behavior never lets up.

The acting in "The Perfect Guy" is uniformly shaky, with Lathan and Chestnut clearly doing their best to work on a basic level with what screenwriter Tyger Williams has given them. Williams concocts an emotionally obvious screenplay, with predictable dialog that handcuffs its actors to delivering the bare-basics in casual conversation (the PG-13 rating also doesn't help too much). The actors that do take their roles to another level, however, are Michael Ealy and Holt McCallany. Ealy's smug facial expressions, likable smile, and sexy charisma make him almost irresistibly attractive from the first frame he's in, and even when he shows his despicable ways, he is still a fascinating character. His performance may not be groundbreaking, but it works because he exploits it for what it is. Also very talented but unlikely to share what little acclaim this film will find is McCallany, whose serious and even-tempered demeanor work wonders when paired with Lathan in the film's later scenes. Consider the off-duty advice Hasen gives Leah in a diner one afternoon, perfectly asserting himself as no longer a supporting character, but an off-kilter presence.

Finally, there's the frustrating element of reversing how we should look at a character halfway through the film. In the beginning, Williams and director David M. Rosenthal positions the scene where Leah breaks up with David as if we're supposed to side Leah, for she is unsatisfied and is looking to advance her life while David is treading water and keeping things simple. However, when Carter, the rebound, turns into a persistent stalker, all of a sudden, we are supposed to quietly condemn the actions of Leah, right after we were positioned to root for her in her ability to impulsively give up financial and relationship security. The same mistake is made in Tyler Perry "Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor," albeit to a much greater extent.

At the end of it all, "The Perfect Guy" still serves as competent entertainment, particularly when it disregards a lot of the acting and screen writing shakiness for consuming suspense in the final forty minutes. It reminds me a lot of last year's "No Good Deed" (which came out this same weekend), in that the film takes a familiar story, but through a couple of solid performances and a strong dose of suspense, the film winds up being serviceable entertainment with a bit more to offer than mindless energy.

Decent film. Decent plot. Good acting. Worth the watch.

You can't judge a book by its cover – or people by first impressions. Both are truisms that I've seen play out often – in my life and in the lives of others. Excellent art work doesn't necessarily mean that the book underneath that cover is any good (or the movie behind the poster, for that matter). More importantly, when looking for a life partner, regardless of how charming the man, or alluring the woman, what's underneath is what matters in the long run – and the best way to make life-defining judgments about a potential mate will always be T-I-M-E. The problem comes in when the cover of that book is so utterly impressive that you commit to reading it, but end up regretting it – or when you go ahead and put in the time, then start to sense that you won't like that last chapter. These are the kinds of situations that become real problems for the main character in "The Perfect Guy" (PG-13, 1:40).

Leah Vaughn (Sanaa Lathan) has it all… well, most of it anyway. She has good looks, a devoted boyfriend and a great job as a lobbyist in L.A. What she doesn't have is a life-long commitment from her man. At the age of 36, and after two years of dating Dave (Morris Chestnut), Leah decides that she's tired of waiting for him to decide when he's ready to marry her and start a family. She tells Dave to leave, and again finds herself alone, but not for long. She meets another very eligible bachelor, but this one seems to know exactly what he wants. Carter Duncan comes off as charming, kind and generous as he is good-looking and sexy. He quickly earns Leah's affections, impresses her friends (Rutina Wesley and Kathryn Morris) and wins over her father (Charles S. Dutton). Carter really does seem to be the perfect guy.

Then Leah cracks open that book. Carter soon shows that, underneath his cover, he has some serious imperfections. Leah thinks it's best to close the book on this initially very promising relationship. Carter doesn't quite accept her decision. Harassment, stalking and some very creepy behavior follows. Then, Dave re-enters the picture. He asks for, and gets, another chance at being Leah's forever man. Carter likes this development even less than the restraining order that Leah sent his way. Now we have a full-blown love triangle – and one of these men turns out to be full-blown crazy. A sympathetic police detective (Holt McCallany) does everything he can to protect Leah, and her neighbor (Tess Harper) looks out for her, but Leah ends up having to figure a way out of her situation mostly by herself.

"The Perfect Guy" is formulaic, fairly predictable – and fun. We've seen this basic story in "Fatal Attraction" (1987), "Sleeping with the Enemy" (1991), "Double Jeopardy" (1999), "Enough" (2002), etc., all the way up to 2015's "The Boy Next Door" and beyond, but this one earns its place among those earlier films. The dialog is crisp and real and, for a nice change, the script doesn't portray the cops as indifferent and powerless (although some moviegoers may feel that the extent to which one detective helps Leah sends a dangerous message). This film nicely updates the genre by showing the very real perils of being a stalk-ee in the early 21st century. Rarely have an obsessed lover's actions been more unsettling, more intrusive and more frightening than in this film. For her part, Leah's dignity, spirit and resourcefulness are also very impressive. A very solid supporting cast back up the excellent performances of the three main characters, and all three are also pretty easy on the eye. (Plus, it's nice to see more ethnic diversity in the thriller genre.) "The Perfect Guy" may not be a perfectly original movie, but its appealing cast, smart script and well-constructed story make it worth a look. "B+"

The movie is good! I did feel like they ruined his (Carter ) character in the movie a bit too soon. It would have been a great plot twist to allow the 2 (Leah & Carter) to grow closer then maybe have Cater start to grow jealous of her Ex.

It was ruined so suddenly at the gas station and things shifted really fast!

If his good guy character could have lasted a little longer, things would have been more intriguing.

Good thriller ... lotsss of tension.

Little cliche story but with real psycho creepy staff. Dramatic.

Some stupid faults.. . but apart from that quite realistic. Good acting !. I like the detective/police agent a lot..