Picture Perfect (1997)
A movie review by Michael J. Legeros
Copyright 1997 by Michael J. Legeros
(Fox)
Directed by Glenn Gordon Caron
Written by Arleen Sorkin, Paul Slansky, and Glenn Gordon Caron
Cast Jennifer Aniston, Jay Mohr, Kevin Bacon, Olympia
Dukakis, Illeana Douglas, Kevin Dunn
MPAA Rating "PG-13"
Running Time 101 minutes
Reviewed at General Cinemas at Pleasant Valley, Raleigh, NC
(04AUG97)
==
The preposterous plot goes something like this: a young lady who works in an advertising agency (Jennifer Aniston) is told by her boss, in so many words and with witnesses present, that she won't get any further in the firm because she (a.) isn't married and (b.) isn't plan- ning to have kids. Instead of contacting a lawyer, to investigate her options-- or a hairdresser, to get those damn bangs cut-- she perpet- uates this story about a fiancee she doesn't have (Jay Mohr, the guy who fires Tom Cruise in JERRY MAGUIRE), so she can get promoted *and* get into the pants of a co-worker (Kevin Bacon, looking almost forty) who, get this, is only interested in her if she's attached to someone *else*. All of which, duh, leads to a romance with the faux boyfriend, who, I guess, finds her meticulous lying to be rather endearing. Calling Dr. Laura!
Okay, okay, I'll admit that Ms. Aniston has better comic chops than I expected. And a few scenes are justifiably LOL funny. (And, at times, unintentionally so. I don't know when I laughed harder: at the statement that Aniston and Illeana Douglas are playing characters sup- posedly the same age, or when the ghoulish-looking Kevin Bacon is refer- red to as a "really beautiful man.") Pure nonsense, but it's easy on the brain. And, for some of us, *exceptionally* easy on the eyes. Director Glenn Gordon Caron (LOVE AFFAIR, CLEAN AND SOBER) parades Ms. Aniston around in a number of low-cut dresses, including one garish green gown that looks like a leftover from ROMY AND MICHELE'S HIGH SCHOOL REUNION. Guys, if your girlfriend picks this week's flick, just sit back, relax, and enjoy that woody.
Grade: C-
-- Mike Legeros - Movie Hell http://www.nonvirtual.com/hell
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