Review of Picture Perfect (1997) by Christopher S — 23 Jul 2011

Average Romantic Comedy that features Jennifer Aniston at her Hottest and in her prime beauty. Story is not too unbelievable here but the screen writers managed to ruin the movie a bit by inserting the unlikely Wedding scenes in the last few minutes. Below average Script/Screenplay. Only for big fans of Romantic Comedies and Jennifer Aniston fans.......

Jennifer Aniston makes her debut as a bona-fide leading lady in Picture Perfect, in which she plays a talented and charming advertising director named Kate Mosley -- and I do mean charming! Fans of the divine Ms. Aniston will be head-over-heels for this film, watching the leggy knock-out parade around in a serious of provocative outfits. But guess what â" for as hot as Aniston is, life just ain't picture perfect! OH SNAP.... The independent lil' lady can't advance up the corporate ladder because she's unattached and has no liabilities, meaning she has no responsibilities, meaning she could leave the firm at the drop of a dime. On top of everything else, Kate, tired of dating an endless stream of losers, falls for bad-boy co-worker Sam Mayfair (Kevin Bacon), who unfortunately only dates `unavailable' woman and finds Kate `too nice.'.

Her colleague Darcy O'Neal (Illeana Douglas) invents a fictional fiancee for Kate based on a silly, random photo taken with a Bostonian named Nick (Jerry McGuire's Jay Mohr) at a wedding the week before. She's only met him once, as he was videotaping the wedding. Frustrated with everything, Kate reluctantly goes along with the harebrained scheme and gets her promotion, as well as her man, for the previously unavailable Sam is suddenly attracted to the now officially-unavailable Kate.

When controlling factors force Kate into generating her fiancee, she hunts Nick down and hires him for one evening to pose as her beloved. He agrees, and the two create a past history for their relationship, as well as a convenient break-up that will take place during a business dinner with her boss.

The catch? Nick falls in love with Kate, Kate unknowingly falls in love with Nick, and Nick becomes uncomfortable with the whole facade. We, the audience, are forced to root for Joe Ordinary (Mohr) over Joe Cool (Bacon), knowing that his hapless, hayseed schtick is probably three yawns too tired for a city-slicker like Aniston's character. I didn't think she should date either of them! Still, contrived and all, it's a pretty good flick, and Aniston is always compelling as an actress (and not just as an object to ogle), mind the one scene where I fell completely out of sympathy with her for being such a crass bitch! But she looked good being one...

The casting overall with your typical RomanticCom players all do their part. The leads are fine as well. Like I mentioned above, Jennifer Aniston is at her Hottest and pulls her usual shtick that she is now very famous for nearly 15 yrs later. Jay Mohr put forth a superb performance, Kevin Bacon can do just about anything so he was fine. Olympia Dukakis was bit too annoying for my tastes. Illeana Douglas a RomaticCom Vet doesn't do much but plays a pivotal story role.

The title derives from the fact that she works at a picture agency, and that's where a lot of the film's scenes take place. It gets a little weary after a while, and is very predictable - but if you're a fan of the actors, it's reasonable to say you'll find something to enjoy here.