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The Perfect Match

Name: The Perfect Match
Item: The Perfect Match
Rating: 3
Author: Barbara Shulgasser-Parker

Movie review by

Barbara Shulgas..., Common Sense Media

Common Sense says

age 16+

(i)

Womanizer learns about love after lots of one-night stands.

R
2016
86 minutes

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A lot or a little?

The parents' guide to what's in this movie.

Positive Messages

When you let your guard down, love can find its way in. Even those who say they don't want a committed relationship may find one if they're open to it and the right person comes along. Nothing is more important than going after the person you love.

Positive Role Models & Representations

Smart, assertive women stand up for themselves in their relationships, achieve success in their careers, and are surrounded by equally smart and self-actualizing men. A man protests when his boss insists he handle a client unethically. A woman tells her brother she's glad his heart has been broken, because it means he is capable of love. Two stable couples grow tired of their playboy friend's sexual adventurism -- but even though he acts like a jerk, his friends forgive and embrace him. A man says he loses interest in women as soon as he has sex with them.

Violence

Sex

A man has sex with different partners, once in a restaurant bathroom. Clothes come off, though nudity is limited to naked bottoms and other non-graphic parts. Oral sex (giving and receiving) is mentioned. Two people ask a salesperson in a sex store for advice on spicing up married sex. A couple discusses their efforts to get pregnant; after a visit to a fertility clinic, the man loudly boasts that he has a high sperm count. Women in skimpy bikinis.

Language

Frequent use of a variety of strong language, including "f--k," "motherf--ker," "s--t," "a--hole," "t-ts," "squirt game," "hand job," "ho," "d--khead," "butt naked," "balls," "merde," "bitch," "wack," and more.

Consumerism

Nikon and Leica cameras are discussed.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Characters drink wine and liquor in a social setting. A character buys others drinks at a bar. One character drinks more than he can handle after he learns his girlfriend is leaving him to get married. Two friends drink tequila shots. Cocaine is mentioned.

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that The Perfect Match is a romantic comedy that's largely about sex, so it will be an iffy choice for younger teens. The main character is the lone single man among a friend group of long-term couples, who all disapprove of his sexual exploits because they see his inability to make a long-term commitment as the root of his ultimate unhappiness. Expect to see lots of skin (though nothing more graphic than bare butts), especially when the main character has no-strings sex with a woman in a restaurant bathroom. Characters also talk openly about genitalia, a woman trying to get pregnant visits a sex shop to liven up her increasingly tedious sex life, close friends share sexual concerns, and both male and female characters are ogled. There's also a lot of strong language -- "f--k," "s--t," "t-ts," etc. -- and characters sometimes drink too much.

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What's the story?

A tight group of five long-time Los Angeles friends gearing up to celebrate the wedding of Victor (Robert Christopher Riley) and Ginger (Lauren London). Meanwhile, Pressie (Dascha Polanco) and Rick (Donald Faison) are struggling to get pregnant. Their close friend, Charlie (Terrence Jenkins), is a player who easily picks up beautiful, willing women but proudly announces that he loses interest in them as soon he sleeps with them. Charlie's sister, Sherry (Paula Patton), a therapist to the stars, fears he disdains commitment to help protect himself from loss, because their parents died when he was young. Hoping to help him form a real emotional attachment, Charlie's friends bet that he can't see just one woman for the entire period leading up to the wedding. He takes the challenge but picks Eva (Cassie Ventura), a woman who warns him that she wants a "no strings" arrangement. Charlie falls for her anyway, only to make a discovery that sends him into a tailspin.

Is it any good?

The appealing cast of THE PERFECT MATCH convincingly depicts modern men and women. These are relatable people who are struggling to sort out relationship issues, impending parenthood, a fair distribution of responsibilities between partners, and the balance between work and love. The women are all as smart as -- if not smarter than -- their men; one makes more money than her fiancé, which he seems to applaud. And the ending is refreshingly un-Hollywood, more about promising good things to come than outright "happy." Charlie may not end up where you think he will, but he does seem to mature into someone who will make real love a priority in his life.

Talk to your kids about ...

Families can talk about how The Perfect Match portrays sex and relationships. What does sex mean to the various characters? Parents, talk to your teens about your own values on these topics.
How is drinking depicted? Are there realistic consequences? Why is that important?
The movie depicts equally intelligent men and women co-existing as peers in relationships, at work, and in striving for success. How does the real world measures up to this standard?