Critic's Grade: B-

As far as superficial movies go, "Perfect" is top notch. Its basis on realistic events could easily be an afterthought in the midst of the film's ogling of physically fit bodies, their owners throwing limbs into the air and pelvises from side to side in their futile attempts to achieve the utmost perfection in their appearance. This brandishing of the human form threatens to spell certain doom for James Bridges docudrama about 80's health clubs, but luckily, the story is more interesting than it has any right to be.

The premise is derived from articles written for Rolling Stone magazine about health clubs becoming a new hotbed for singles in the mood for hooking up with other physically fit nymphomaniacs. At the center of this is Adam Lawrence (played by John Travolta; the character's real life basis is the script's cowriter, Aaron Latham), a reporter who is sent to California to try and persuade felon Joe McKenzie to give him a face-to-face interview before his trial. As insurance in case he doesn't make his goal, his editor gives him the assignment of infiltrating the health clubs and digging up the dirt for a juicy story.

He finds himself at The Sport's Connection ("The Sport's Erection," he later calls it), a classy fitness center swarming with people who appear flawless and wear endless smiles that make you wonder if they're pumping methamphetamines through the ventilation ducts. Is is here that he meets Jessie (Jamie Lee Curtis), the center's top aerobics instructor who refuses his fervent requests for an interview, but agrees to have lunch with him. The two begin a relationship of sorts, one that is put in jeopardy when she finds out what he's really up to, thus leading to that subplot where he has an epiphany and realizes the error of his ways.

The film is pretty routine as far as the romance goes. It hits the usual high and low points, though a scene involving their initial clandestine encounter is supercharged with sexual intensity. We know upfront that things are going to get rocky because the script requires it, so any surprises down the road are immediately disposed of before the first hour is up.

That we know so much isn't that great a detraction, considering the above average acting on the parts of Curtis and Travolta, and the overall upbeat nature of the material. Travolta actually shows some depth as Adam, giving us a reason to believe in what would otherwise be a routine change of heart for his character. Curtis excels as a woman unwilling to trust those around her, and exposes the raw, unstable nature of Jessie quite nicely. And when the actors aren't busy exchanging dialogue, they're getting in shape during one of the expertly-staged aerobics sequences, which are supercharged with eroticism and heat as the camera takes more than just mere glimpses at gyrating bodies, hips, pelvises, arms, shoulders, legs... you get my drift.

The only thing that's missing from "Perfect" is a sense that these characters, not just Adam and Jessie, go through some sort of change as a result of the article published in the magazine in the film's final third. Adam rewrites his original article to reflect his own thoughts, though his publisher orders a second rewrite to revolve around the original premise. Those mentioned in the article see it, are stunned and apparently hurt by "Adam's" remarks, but then the movie drops this for the insertion of the beginning subplot involving McKenzie, which is used to provide a purpose for Adam and Jessie's inevitable reconciliation in the end. Do the gym bunnies and nymphos ever go through a process of reevaluating themselves? Do they even care? Could it be that they truly believe that beauty is only skin deep?

If this is so, then we have no reason to care for them at all. This lack of deeper thought ultimately renders "Perfect" a work of pure superficiality, but on that level, it works more than it should. The gym scenes are nothing short of a fetish feast, the acting surprisingly potent, the overall experience mildly enjoyable, though it could have been more.

Copyright @ Hauntnut.com

All Reviews by David Litton [Home page]
If you are the author of this review, you may edit it by signing in.