I saw it today - for the very first time. I missed it in the 80s and since I have that set of 80 color transparencies from that film in my archive (Jamie!), I always wanted to see it. For starters, I feel that the 80s is the least interesting decade in filmmaking. I'm into 60s/70s filmmaking and think that the feel-good glossies of the mid/late 80s killed off cinema as an art form in LA. But that's OK, I'm from Europe anyway and I lived through the 80s - it was a superb time to be young - no need for TAXI DRIVER in 1986 :). PERFECT is one of the ultimate 80s films and not nearly as bad as I thought it was. Travolta is quite good and Jamie is adorable - I am not subjective here, I guess that crush still holds on! The script is formular but quite good. The Laraine Newman sequence (a bit much), may be a few minutes to long, as is the whole film (almost 2 hrs.), the last three or four scenes are edited TV style (as though they HAD to cut, to avoid a 130 minute version). But I feel one of the major reasons people had or have problems with the film is its set up, dealing with the health club scene. Which is nice to look at (minus certain fashion), but never as cool as other "everyday life" subjects of 80s filmmaking, like "tending bar" (COCKTAIL, certainly not a better film, just box office-wise). Anyway, I liked it a lot. Especially Jamie :).
Review of Perfect
