Although “The Perfect Date” was the number two most-streamed movie in the U.K., its clichés and overall lacking plot substance made it a tough movie to get through.
The movie follows Brooks Radigan, a high school student with not enough money to pay for college. He attempts to make money whilst pursuing the girl of his dreams.
Of course, as with all romantic comedies, the protagonist realizes that after all this time he has been chasing the wrong girl and has made a terrible mistake by leaving the one he truly loves. Not only is this completely expected, but the way in which the characters made-up and got together again was completely unrealistic.
Many other aspects of this movie are a complete turn-off. The fact that the high school students are portrayed by actors who are 20-years-old and older were an immediate concern, as it further disconnected the movie from reality and contributed to the unrealistic representation of high school.
Furthermore, the acting by the main characters is done in such a manner that it completely eliminates the natural responses and actions of what a normal individual would do.
This movie also follows the cliché track of the main character falling in love with the wrong person, losing all their friends as a result of their poor treatment of them, coming to realize that all their dreams are based on societal standards, etc. Even though clichés can sometimes work and add to the ability of the viewer to understand the movie, the excess of base themes that this movie contains is ridiculous and awkward.
These degrading clichés are further exemplified by the acting of Noah Centineo, who is barely known for one other recent movie, “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before.” Although a “teen heartthrob,” Centineo does little more than that, and his poor acting contributed to the detest of the film.
Centineo’s eventual “true love,” Celia Lieberman, is played by Laura Marano. Although she did a better job than Centineo, sadly her role isn’t enough to drag the movie up from the murky depths in which it resides.
No other prominent actors are featured within this movie and there are also no other prevalent characters. This is another factor as to why the movie is very one-dimensional and limited in its meaning.
IMDb gave it an apropos review with a 5.9/10, but that is still higher than this movie deserves.
In short, this movie is a lot like the Radigan’s original female aspiration, appealing to the eye but completely lacking in substance and anything interesting.
