Movie Review By Kya Williams
The Perfect Guy
Opening day for “The Perfect Guy,” directed by David Rosenthal and written by Alan McElroy, Alan B. McElroy, and Tyger Williams, was Friday, September 11th. By the end of that weekend, the film was crowned number one in the box office, with ticket sales of $26.7 Million. That must’ve been a great birthday present for Sanaa Lathan and Michael Ealy, but along with Morris Chestnut, this leading black trio was a treat in itself for so many people. They made this thriller a must see.
I just knew when I saw the trailer for this film that it was going to be a great movie. Supporting black films is always a must for me and I mean, Sanaa Lathan, Michael Ealy, and Morris Chestnut are gorgeous, accomplished actors, so I had to see it. I expected so much from this film and I’d imagine that many other people felt the same way. But to my surprise, some experts thought differently because the film only played in select theatres. And despite that, the film still made huge a statement.
For those who don’t know, “The Perfect Guy” is about Leah Vaughn, played by Sanaa Lathan, who is in her late 30’s and she want’s to get married and have kids, but her boyfriend of two years, Dave, played by Morris Chestnut, doesn’t want to be pressured into marriage. However, he truly loves her. Because Leah’s biological clock is ticking, she decides that she can’t wait anymore and she ends their relationship. A few months after they break up, she runs into Carter Duncan, Michael Ealy, and decides to go out with him. Carter seems too good to be true, but that good guy image vanishes when he snaps and violently attacks a man for talking to Leah. Leah simply can’t get over his rage, and she ends their fling. Carter doesn’t take this lightly and he stalks her, steals from her, and kills to protect himself from getting caught. After Leah rekindles her romance with Dave, Carter kicks his stalking into high gear. Things get pretty heated and juicy, and as expected the movie ends tragically when Leah feels like enough is enough. Now, you may be thinking, that sounds familiar. Well, it is.
After leaving the theatre, I thought of the film as a mixture of “Enough,” “Addicted,” and “The Boy Next Door.” Needless to say, I felt like I’d seen it before, but it was still commendable for basically one reason; Michael Ealy. He played the role of a sociopath extremely well. He made me fall in love with him and then, suddenly that love disappeared and I saw craziness in his eyes for the rest of the movie. Carter was real. It’s hard to truly explain how great of a job he did. You just have to see it for yourself. But to give you an idea, his performance reminds me of his role in “For Colored Girls” when he dropped two children out of a window. He made me hate him for a while after that movie because I believed he was the character. I love that Michael Ealy isn’t afraid to take on roles that people are inclined to hate, and he still effortlessly nails them. I think he deserves more recognition for his work and a prestigious award is due for him at this point in his career.
As for the rest of the cast, they did a good job but their characters didn’t stick out to me. I felt like the movie was supposed to be centered on Leah, but then Carter stole the show. I think Leah could’ve had more of a spark or fight in her to give Carter a run for his money. I needed her to stray away from the archetype of a successful but helpless woman that is blinded by love, who later becomes brave. I think she should’ve possessed some fire in her personality and instability in her background. She was too well rounded in regards to her family and work life, making her seem unrealistic. For Dave, he was a small role, at least smaller than I thought he would be, but I think it was appropriate to allow the focus to remain on the tumultuous relationship between Leah and Carter.
Ultimately, the typical concept of a single woman who gets involved with a stalker, is modified because the stalker has a more detailed background as a tech savvy sociopath. However, I think the film needed more. If it was centered on Carter and his past, present, and point of view, instead of Leah’s life, “The Perfect Guy” would have been more unique. It would’ve put a more memorable spin on a common plot that typically revolves around a female lead character.