Perfect (1985) User Reviews

Come on, its not that bad!

[tbyrne4 · 5/10 · 8 August 2006]

Really, "Perfect" is not the tactical warhead everyone seems to be implying. This is not on the same level as 80s catastrophes like "Megaforce", "Grease 2", "Howard the Duck", or (heaven help us) "Staying Alive". "Perfect" is nothing more than tragic misfire from extremely talented director James Bridges ("The Paper Chase", "Urban Cowboy") that makes the dire mistake of treating the aerobics, health club fad of the mid-80s as a serious cultural phenomenon (ugh).

It also helped to derail John Travolta's career for the better part of a decade - sad, because all one has to do is take a look at his outstanding performances in "Blow Out" and "Urban Cowboy" and realize that his acting in "Perfect" was just fine (if a bit low key). It's a shame, he could have made a lot of great movies while he was stuck in dreck like "The Experts" and strange late 80s Altman theatre pieces like Pinter's "The Dumb Waiter" (with Tom Conti!).

Travolta plays a Rolling Stone journalist hot on the trail of a big story about how health clubs are the new pick-up joints, replacing singles bars. He meets "The Pied Piper of aerobics teachers" Jamie Lee Curtis, a former Olymic swimmer who was once burned by a journalist over a piece about how she was having an affair with her coach. Of course, she and Travolta hook up and Travolta meets some other folks who frequent the gym, who are like supporting characters in a David Lynch movie (I'm unsure if the director intended to portray them as weird as they come off).

Real-life Rolling Stone editor Jann Wenner shows up to essentially play himself (not very well) and, in the film's most laughable detail, Travolta writes a version of his story portraying health clubs as Emersonian watering holes of the future (or something like that).

It's all kind of bloated and weird, but really not that bad. Travolta's actually pretty good. Jamie Lee Curtis looks great but comes off as slightly grouchy, but she was probably directed that way.

Don't miss Travolta's notorious pelvic thrust sequence (you can't miss it).

Extra star for Travolta's pelvic thrusts

[Dougmd1974 · 6/10 · 7 May 2022]

Watching him and Jamie Lee Curtis "workout" was quite entertaining. Aerobics really was the soft core porn of the 80s and there's a lot of it in the movie. They even threw in a Chippendales performance for good measure. The film itself is alright, acting isn't bad and the storyline is ok but the ending is rather cliche and predictable. The soundtrack might be the best part. Fun to watch for nostalgia and the Carly Simon cameo but other than that I don't think there's a lot here really.

1985....Like a Jackie Collins novel....a bad year

[MarieGabrielle · 4/10 · 8 November 2006]

SPOILER: "The Hitcher" (young C. Thomas Howell) and "Risky Business" came out, Wes Craven was doing his "Nightmare on Elm Street" series...so what did we young people have for drama? This.

If you need a laugh now, you may want to tune in. While Jamie Lee Curtis tries to elevate this, it is simply not elevate-able.

Laraine Newman and Marilu Henner are gym groupies with no self-esteem, (Marilu gets the Chippendale man though, so it's all good). John Travolta as a semi-literate writer at "Rolling Stone". (We know he is good, because in the end he goes to jail for protecting a source). There are some scenes with Jann Wenner and Lauren Hutton, apparently the then in-crowd, at a party.

The really sad part about this is that there really were people like this; the gym was a sense of self-esteem;(along with anorexia). Aerobics class became the next singles hang-out as the song "Masquerade" blares out, while everyone obsesses over plastic surgery and the perfect body (The Laraine Newman character is particularly pathetic).

We see the superficiality. Has anything changed? Indeed, they could remake this with Jessica Simpson as the lead. Someone get on the phone to CAA!.

"Rolling Stone" gathers no gross....

[Poseidon-3 · 22 April 2004]

A legendary flop and a legendarily bad movie, this mess is part three in a career-killing trilogy of Travolta's that also includes "Staying Alive" and "Two of a Kind". It took him a long time to bounce back. It also stalled Curtis's career for a while until "A Fish Called Wanda" rescued her. The story, such as it is, concerns Travolta, a Rolling Stone magazine reporter, looking for a story angle within a huge gymnasium at the height of the aerobics and fitness craze. He's already working on another more important story, but wants this as a back-up in case an all-important interview falls through. He zeroes in on high-profile aerobics instructor Curtis who has a huge following (which often kisses her on the mouth following one of her workouts!) Unfortunately, she's had a major disaster with a reporter in the past and resists being interviewed for his story. In order for there to be a movie, he must wear her down and get her assistance even though there are 90 other instructors at this mega-gym. The film is very unfocused and disjointed throughout. It tries to be too many things: a reflection of investigative journalism, an ethics drama, an examination of self-esteem issues, a music video crash-course in Jazzercise and, most obviously, a jiggle movie with emphasis on lycra-clad spread legs and tight behinds. The script is so crass and stupid with ludicrous lines like, "You're a sphincter muscle..." (this one is repeated often!) and unnecessary subplots which lead nowhere. Travolta is awful. He speaks his lines with his mouth almost open, stares blankly with no skill at conveying what's on his mind and, in the films most celebratedly horrendous scene, gyrates his bulging crotch at the camera ad nauseam while sweat trickles down his pale, clammy face and body. Curtis looks very fresh and attractive most of the film (if a bit sexually ambiguous) eschewing the huge hair and heavy make-up of the times. Her character is a little too self-righteous, but her acting is better than anyone else around. Wenner, a non-actor, provides a jarring presence whenever he appears because he (along with several other "real" people cast in the film) hasn't got the polish to really sell his role even though it reflects his position in real life (as the founder of Rolling Stone!) Most of the other actors in the film either overact horrendously or flat-line. More importantly, the audience does not care about anyone in the film and so does not care when various events and revelations come about. There is some inherent camp value in revisiting the hilarious workout clothes of the 80's and in hearing the bouncy, tacky music of the era, but the movie is way too long for it's subject matter and the music montages wear out their welcome very quickly. And for all the sweating and gyration, there are no sex scenes in the film. Look out for pansexual Burt Reynolds look-alike (and alleged Travolta bed partner) Barresi in the cast as a gym rat eager to show off his body.

Subscriptions to Rolling Stone magazine must've taken a hit after this one...

[moonspinner55 · 2/10 · 29 October 2005]

John Travolta tries his best as writer for Rolling Stone magazine hoping to finish an unflattering piece on the faddish California health club scene, but complications arise after he falls in love with a sexy, sensitive aerobics instructor. Perfect-ly awful drama, shallow and dated, is surprisingly cynical about Rolling Stone and its ethics (this despite the fact the producers had the magazine's input and even cast its editor, Jann Wenner, in a supporting role!). Film does get a tiny bit of class from Jamie Lee Curtis, and supporting players Anne De Salvo as a photographer and Laraine Newman as a wallflower are more than respectable in clichéd roles. * from ****

Perfect? It's anything but!

[TOMASBBloodhound · 3/10 · 11 May 2003]

My Goodness, what a bomb! We didn't drop anything this big on Iraq!

Perfect is the story of a Rolling Stone reporter (Travolta) who trips over his ethics, or lack there of while writing two big stories. His first story deals with a computer tycoon in hot water with the U.S. government for selling his products to an Eastern-Bloc country. This angle is played way up considering the lack of details we are told about the situation. No matter, the story you will remember deals with a swanky health club in L.A.. Travolta wishes to write a piece about how health clubs in the 1980s are replacing the singles bars of the 1970s as the #1 place for people to meet. Take that premise and see how long you can stretch it. Director Bridges apparently thought he could drag it out for nearly two hours and still keep our attention.

This film suffers from a severe lack of focus. There are too many location changes to count. There is also too much running around and too much time wasted on insignificant little things. For example, what was up with Travolta's sudden trip to Morocco near the end of the film. It had no purpose what so ever! Another problem this film has is its tendency to drag out every scene to last as long as whatever cheesy 80s dance song is playing in the background. That gets old pretty darn quick.

This film is also hopelessly dated in terms of fashion. If any guy came into my health club wearing tights or a fish-net tank top, he'd probably get beaten up. Bridges & CO also try to recycle a gag that worked in Urban Cowboy. In that film, there was a scene featuring numerous women dressed up for a Dolly Parton look-alike contest. In this film, we get about a hundred people dressed up as Boy George in a scene at a hotel. In Urban Cowboy it worked since there was a legitimate reason for all the people to dress that way. They were at least trying to win a contest. The scene in Perfect is useless and it only serves to date the film even further.

This film was by no means Travolta's worst. Has anyone seen The Experts or Shout? This film did, however, have his most embarrassing scene. In it, he's sweating away in Jamie Lee Curtis's aerobics class and doing a never-ending series of pelvic thrusts to the dance beat. His crotch has obviously been stuffed with a sock, or perhaps the thing Hammer used in his Pumps in a Bump video. Truly hilarious!

Travolta is a talented actor, but he has nothing to work with here. Jamie Lee Curtis is also a great talent, but she is wasted as well. She looks absolutely gorgeous, but her character is so moody and abrasive that we can hardly stand her. The supporting cast of mostly unknowns fills out their respective stereotypical roles as well as they can.

In all, this is a poor film on all levels. It tries to be an insightful look at journalistic ethics and falls flat on its face. It comes off as being little more than a two hour plug for Rolling Stone Magazine. Too Bad.

3 of 10 stars

So sayeth the Hound.

Unintentionally hilarious in places, but Curtis is profoundly likable

[Nijn1978 · 1/10 · 19 May 2005]

Made during the heyday of the aerobics craze, Perfect seemed like a great idea for the studio Columbia to cash in on a trend and more... . Like Travolta's breakthrough picture Saturday Night Fever and Urban Cowboy, Travolta's other collaboration with director James Bridges, it was based on a series of news articles focused on a trend and lifestyle. But in 1983 Flashdance, maybe the quintessential high concept picture, came out, a movie, with no plot to speak of, which was set to an up-tempo chic pop soundtrack and contained a lot of images with a dancing Jennifer Beals double, that were easily marketable to a big audience. And they went to see it in big numbers. Perfect, unfortunately for the studio, came out in theaters when the aerobics craze had already reached it's peak.

Perfect contains the same elements that made Flashdance a big commercial success: thin plotting and characterization, an up-tempo pop soundtrack and lots of images of people dancing to the music in sequences that don't seem to further the plot or deepen characterization. But Flashdance didn't pretend to be much more than what it is: namely a cheap piece of fluff. Perfect, on the other hand, strives for something a little more worthwhile, but fails on those accounts. Bridges put in some ethical comments on the profession of journalism. And he also tried to put in a potentially interesting thriller-storyline around the McKenzie character. But these are soon discarded for the romantic storyline between Curtis and Travolta, that starts out in a playful way but soon turns tiresome due to bad plotting and characterization. That's not to say that Curtis and Travolta are bad in this. Curtis, who seems incapable to give an unlikeable performance, especially does her best and nearly lifts the movie with her enthusiasm.

What's left of Perfect are a couple of hilariously great aerobics scenes, in which Curtis gives her all, a hilariously great male stripper scene and some really bad hair moments. So, bad movie aficionado's, like me, and Curtis fans, like me, will find something to like in this. Therefore my rating is 6 out of 10.

Flawed.

[DJBlackSwan · 4/10 · 11 November 2005]

PERFECT reminds you of precisely what you wanted to forget about the mid-80s, including the movie, itself. That's why so many are uncomfortable with it, myself included.

Yes, Jamie Lee looks lovely (though she'd go on to look much better -- and much healthier -- in subsequent films), and it's fun to grin along with Travolta and the Tent in His Shorts in that entirely-too-long "hot aerobics moves" sequence.. But PERFECT is useful for one thing and one thing only, being an send up of East coast pretentiousness and presumptions about the "Los Angeles"/airhead image. Oh yes, and it's probably the only film on earth to mention the ABSCAM scandal of 1980. Give it two stars for that, alone.

There's a not-so-subtle gay undercurrent running through PERFECT be it the impromptu Boy George Fandom conference at the hotel, the pretty blonde fruits prancing around Sport Connection and incredulous "Chippendale (i.e. homosexual) boyfriend" of the aggressively heterosexual Sally; or the purposely genderless introduction of Jessie's "swim coach" rumor. Be honest: you wait with bated breath until the movie provides you with the sigh of relief that the swim coach was indeed male. It could have been worse: all that memory trauma could have been over an allegation of...lecherous PE teacher LESBIANISM...(gasp, the horror!)

Before you tell me I'm imposing today's standards on yesterday's film, consider that these were pertinent issues, particularly for gays and gays-to-be, even (perhaps even "especially") in 1985.

But I found myself actually agreeing with the central message of the film, as articulated by that hokey Travolta analogy on pop culture and individual dreams.

Diagnosis: if PERFECT is any indicator, the "California"/LA image is the fantastic, mass-marketed product of the very people claiming to critique it from such an "objective" distance. Whatever it's funny-ha-ha flaws, anyone over age 35 is acutely aware that we're really only laughing at ourselves, our active denial of blatant, obvious 1980s in your fact homosexuality; our long-spent cans of sparkly rouge, styling mousse, and L'Oreal; synth bass and gated snare dance lines, the wrong-then-and-wrong-now spandex, and pushbutton on-screen/zero-chemistry heterosexual promiscuity.

PERFECT is the warped mirror back in our face. That is precisely WHY it was such a monumental failure at the BO. Two stars for that part, too.

plenty of cheese

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 7 July 2016]

Adam Lawrence (John Travolta) is a relentless, cynical Rolling Stone reporter from New York. He is in Los Angeles to track down an elusive interview. He has a second idea to write about fitness clubs as the new singles bars. He tries to interview instructor Jessie Wilson (Jamie Lee Curtis) known as the "aerobics pied piper" at The Sport Connection. She refuses due to a previous reporter who wrote that she had an affair with her swim coach. He interviews customers like Sally (Marilu Henner) and Linda (Laraine Newman) who is described by another as "the most used piece of equipment in the gym". He is being pressured to testify about his other interview and hand over his notes. When Adam hands in a sincere story about health clubs, the editor rewrites it as a take down piece digging up the old story about Jessie.

This movie is hopelessly dated. It was probably dated and cheesy even at the time of its release. The aerobics scenes are too extended. They feel like cheesy music videos. I actually don't mind the story. Travolta and Curtis are fine actors. The movie is sincere in the writing. However, it can never truly escape the cheese factor.

Perfect? Not really... Entertaining? Definitely.

[rivau319 · 7/10 · 25 January 2007]

This film was definitely the final nail in Travolta's metaphorical coffin having been preceded by 'Staying Alive' and 'Two of a Kind'. Upon first viewing of the film, I was dumbstruck to find what I thought was Travolta acting poorly and the story seemed to be absolutely forgettable and pointless! But after persevering with the movie a couple of times more, I enjoyed it. I even changed my mind on Travolta's performance and realised what he actually tried to do-a mixture of anger, frustration, fatigue, mild charm-all of which are attributed to a workaholic Rolling Stone journalist such as his character Adam. The music has a pulsating beat although I do admit some songs on the film's soundtrack are better than others but the music does seem to carry this film along. Curtis is dazzling in her role as the 'Aerobics Pied Piper.'(Her sexy body and amazing legs are a plus for this movie.) Jann Wenner deserves special mention even though he's probably playing himself considering he was then the editor and now owner of Rolling Stone Magazine. This is a real 80s movie, and a strange theme involving both journalism and aerobics somehow merging together. Travolta and Curtis both do a great job in their roles bringing a contrast of characters in their relationship. I didn't however like the beginning or ending credits at all. The beginning was just basic and static-a list of credits against a plain background. The ending wasn't great either--Berlin's 'Masquerade' song (which is, in my opinion, a weak link in the film's soundtrack), plays on while ALL of the key characters do aerobics...Is that realistic? Bizarre. I rather liked it when Curtis meets Travolta at the end and they drive off. There, is when it should have ended. But I guess all in all, an entertaining mid-80s movie.

"Perfect"...umm, that's ironic right?

[hand2handyman · 1/10 · 26 July 2005]

Question: what do you get when you take Tony Manero and ad body oil and a script that single handedly reminds us of ALL the reasons the 80s sucked? Answer: A 'perfect' movie. ...in which our hero trades in his Saturday Night Fever for a pair of leg warmers and a synthesized soundtrack. Where to begin? How about with an insipid script in which a Rolling Stone reporter (who happens to look like a movie star, like most reporters do..)seeks out the "truth" behind the health club craze of the Reagan years--not exactly Hunter S Thompson stuff huh? Career killing moments abound in this one, including a post-rhinoplasty Laraine Newman who actually says "it's a lot safer looking for Mr Goodbody than Mr Goodbar..."). No really! She says that! AND Jann Wenner, RS Editor, even gives an unconvincing performance as...HIMSELF! AND a few years later, it took Quentin Tarantino to rescue Travolta's career from forever doing talking baby movies. Redeeming feature: a very, very 'pert' Jamie Lee Curtis! If you like unintentionally bad movies, then this truly IS your Perfect choice.

Strangely underrated

[Rodrigo_Amaro · 9/10 · 2 March 2013]

While promoting "Pulp Fiction" back in the 1990's Tarantino while explaining his casting of John Travolta in what would be one of his most iconic roles, resurrecting his career and taking to a new status, the writer and director didn't mention "Grease" or "Saturday Night Fever" as why he thought Travolta was a good actor. He quoted loving him in movies such as "Blow Out", "Carrie" and this little gem called "Perfect". Such opinions are quite surprising since most of those films (except "Carrie") weren't box-office hits neither well criticized, some gaining cult status in the following years of its release. However, even with Quentin's approval "Perfect" still finds a great deal of unexplainable resistance among film buffs, currently giving to this one of the most absurd low ratings ever given to a quite decent movie.

A short way to explain the story is thinking of an "Absence of Malice" made for the masses: it deals with ethics in journalism with Travolta playing a biased Rolling Stone reporter while unsatisfied with the running of a controversial article involving political officials dealing with corruption charges, decides to write a new and apparently harmless article on health clubs and their new function as being a cool dating place replacing the decadent singles bars. Yeah, why bothering going in places where everybody is so down when you go to a happier place, make lots of exercise and meet guys and girls with perfect bodies? There's something worth writing he thinks. Working as an obstacle to this story is a gym instructor (played by Jamie Lee Curtis) who doesn't trust reporters after a career damaging event when a reporter distorted facts while publishing a story involving her. While Travolta's story goes under false pretensions (with a bit of truth in it as well), he can't escape resisting some affection he has by the main character of his article, who each day goes by starts to like this guy, believing he's about to write a good report on the gym and its attendees.

The stone in the way of this movie is that its lack of seriousness while the events are being unfolded, often deeply concerned about the romance between the main characters. At times you think something really dangerous is about to happen, he's being followed by someone due to the other inflammable article where Travolta is torn in between telling about what his source said to him on an exclusive interview or go to jail to protect his source, but no, the film doesn't take off much from this scenario except towards its conclusion to be used as a closure to the gym instructor situation, a predictable and not very believable device.

But "Perfect" manages to keep you hold to your seat due to the reliable and impressive performances of Curtis, Travolta, Laraine Newman, Marilu Henner and small appearances from Kenneth Welsh and David Paymer. It drags down a bit when it stays for too long in the work out exercises, fun for the actors jumping up and down to the coolest and energic 1980's soundtrack but tiring for us viewers seeing an unimaginative lack of camera angles and poor editing which shifts from two different angles instead of being more acrobatic.

Story delivered some valid points (although it can look ridiculously dated now since gym's are also definitely places for dating and no one questions those things anymore), might not be perfect (no pun intended), it was well balanced and easy to follow and feel interested. So, why viewers think this is one of the worst movies ever? Makes me wonder what some of you are watching these days. There's plenty of quality in "Perfect", you just need to open your eyes to see it. 9/10

Not as Bad as I expected

[AngelHonesty · 7/10 · 26 November 2020]

If you're going to watch this movie you have to take it for what it is, eye candy. A cheesy love story about a gym trainer and a reporter. I enjoyed Jamie Lee's acting, she made the film worth watching as she always brings light to her films. As always John Travolta gives his usual performance, if you're a fan of Travolta then I recommend giving this one a try. I do like the deeper meaning/message of the movie, people go to the gym because they believe if they look perfect someone will love them. I don't like that it's stated in the film, "Nothing is wrong with wanting to be perfect, to be loved." But it's nice that the movie has a deeper message then just a shallow storyline.

Or...the very opposite of perfect

[inframan · 1/10 · 23 August 2002]

Wow! Here it is. Very likely the worst movie I have ever seen. I had read about this film long ago but never seen it. What was going on (if anything) in the minds of the people involved? This must be the movie which inspired "Showgirls". I thought that was the worst until I watched this. No wonder so many actors' careers seemed to end with this one. I finally understand he meaning of "bad taste". Phew - quel stinko!

Aerobics, Rolling Stone, and a Hunka Hunka Burnin' Travolta!

[NixonNow · 11 November 2004]

OK, I know this is a bad, bad movie. It's not like I have any "diamond in the rough" illusions about this actually being a good movie that's merely misunderstood. So why is it that I watch it every time it's on? I honestly love watching this film!

Maybe it's the dated 80s setting and the "studly" guys that look utterly homosexual now. Perhaps it's the great lines, like Anne De Salvo looking directly into the camera and saying, "C'mon, guys, make me suffer," or Matthew Reed (in his one and only screen role) saying, "It was love at first sight. I took one look at those tits and my whole body got hard!" It could be John Travolta going through his aerobics routine with a sock in his jock, or Larraine Newman straddling the leg-spreader, proving that not every woman looks sexy in a leotard.

Of course there's Jamie Lee Curtis calling Travolta a "sphincter muscle" three different times. There's also Jann Wenner gyrating his fat gut during the closing credits. How about the pointless scene where hundreds of Boy George fans storm the hotel, or Curtis "deleting" Travolta's article by merely backspacing (What kind of word processor is that)? There's even the premise that Rolling Stone is a serious news magazine - HAW HAW HAW!

I seriously can't recommend paying money for this, but it's worth a watch if it comes on a local channel just for the sheer badness of it all. This is the definitive nadir of Travolta's career (check that...it is better than Battlefield Earth, but what isn't?) After this, even Look Who's Talking Now looks brilliant.

Not really (rental)

[leplatypus · 4/10 · 23 September 2015]

This movie isn't really a stinker but i get bored very quickly : first, I have never liked Travolta as an actor and this movie doesn't change my opinion. Next, the story lacks focus and pace: Travolta writes 2 stories at the same time, it's a news movie, a love movie, nearly a judicial movie and maybe a comedy… It's really too much for a poor actor like Travolta and the aerobic study isn't really interesting : sure it says it's a bit silly as ordinary people doesn't really need to train like professionals but the members are too crazy… What's left is a good Jamie Lee who really gave all her sweat for this part, the feel of the 80s with the first computer and really great cars and fashion

If You Blink, You'll Miss the Good Part...

[chiefwhitebronco · 1/10 · 8 June 2012]

The good part taking place at the beginning, where Vinnie Barbarino is sitting at a table in a restaurant with Jann Wenner of Rolling Stone Magazine. Carly Simon, who looks fabulous as always, walks in and says to Barbarino, "I read that piece of Scheisse you wrote," and heaves a Bloody Mary (in a wine glass) at Vinnie, getting the goop all over him and the surrounding scenery. (The word Carly actually used is prohibited by IMDb's Dirty Word Filter.)

For this, Carly deserves an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, and Travolta deserved to be cast with talking babies and dogs, the latter of which actually happened. By the way, this scene, along with the one that preceded it, where Travolta was writing obits for the Jersey Journal in Jersey City, have zero relevance to the rest of the story, which is about the astounding revelation that gyms, um, health clubs, are good pickup spots, especially the massage tables. There's also some blather about journalistic ethics.

BTW, Carly's a lefty. She's holding the glass in her right hand (leave it to me to pick up on such details). Too bad she's not ambidextrous so she could have thrown another drink at Wenner for keeping her out of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which is just another building in Cleveland until she's enshrined in it.

I recommend that after you watch the Carly Simon cameo, you turn off the DVD player and go back to watching Jerry Springer or Jersey Shore, both of which are far more entertaining than this turkey.

I didn't laugh or crying but I sure was bored.

[epalejandrocarrillo · 2/10 · 18 August 2018]

And uneven 80s romance drama that just doesn't work. The characters might want to be perfect in their physique but this movie is far from perfect. Even if you were to cut out half an hour of this 2-hour movie it will still be boring. It's very difficult to like the main characters let alone root for them twards the end of the movie. If you like 80's movies, skip this you'll be better off.

Doesn't Know What It Wants To Be

[sarastrahan-61184 · 4/10 · 21 August 2019]

Perfect has a big identity crisis. Is it a satire on the health club craze of the 80s? Apparently, but it's not witty or biting enough to ever come across that way. At best, Perfect comes across as a bunch of scenes strung together with absolutely no connective tissue to hold them together.

John Travolta and Jamie Lee Curtis are both incredible talents who have made their fair share of brilliant choices and bad choices, but this ranks among their worst. They're both given precious little to play with and, while they look beautiful, they never connect with the audience.

Surprisingly, the actor who comes across the best here is Larraine Newman, a Saturday Night Live alum who is given one of the more realistic and well defined characters in the film. She's a health nut who struggles with body image issues and perhaps a sexual addiction. Maybe the film should have focused on her instead.

Not perfect, but how many movies do you know that are?

[gridoon · 6/10 · 4 December 2002]

If this movie seems sometimes lost in too many story threads, it's because it wants to say something about both the ethics of journalism and the pros and cons of attending health clubs as a way of living. And if it seems at times vapid, empty and without substance, that's probably because it reflects the vapidity, emptiness and lack of substance of our pop culture. It's similar, in some ways, to films like "Cocktail" or "Dirty Dancing", but it's better than them, because it takes some distance from its subject. And, thanks perhaps to the continuous change of locales, or the star presence of Travolta, or the beat of the soundtrack, or the scantily clad Laraine Newman, it is an effortlessly watchable (if predictable) movie. (**)

Ha! Perfect!?... Yeah! Perfectly Awful!

[StrictlyConfidential · 2/10 · 14 June 2020]

Hey, all you fitness-freaks! Welcome to L.A.'s fitness scene. It's hip! It's fab! It's the new 'singles bar' of the 80's. So, let's get physical everyone and let me hear your body talk!

As the story goes - Hotshot, Rolling Stone reporter, Adam Lawrence (bubbling over with self-importance), arrives in town to write an expose' on L.A.'s latest exercise fad - The Health Club. It seems that these joints have become the newest craze in singles "pick-up" spots.

Zowie!

Anyway - All that "Perfect" (from 1985) ends up being is just another smug, moralizing mess about journalistic ethics. (Wait till you hear Lawrence and Jessie expound on Emersonian values)

This film has been widely criticized by many as being one of the decades most notorious misfires. You be the judge of that.

Excellent and, if you don't think so then I'm afraid you just don't get it.

[FX_Lord · 9/10 · 9 October 2018]

This film was only recently brought to my attention, I've so far watched it five times. Why? Because I'm a writer who loves to study effective character work in effective screenplays. The fact that this film received a Razzie nomination for worst screenplay only serves to invalidate the Razzies for me rather than changing my opinion of this film.

The way some reviews even mention the fact that the film was a flop as though that validates their opinion that it was awful. So The Thing (1982) was awful then? Or Blade Runner the same year. There are many reasons for films to flop, marketing for instance, or how about the fact that it was competing with Rambo II, The Goonies, Brewster's Millions, hell even Beverly Hills Cop released six months earlier was still doing good business then.

The summer of 1985 was saturated with hits, and here they threw this little character driven narrative into that environment, I don't understand how they thought it could have been a hit frankly. Kids wouldn't get it, frankly adults who just wanted to see Jamie Lee Curtis in a leotard probably wouldn't get it.

It's a story about a reporter (Travolta) who, at the start of the film, has the gumption to use women to get a story; a man who had no conscience about that behaviour. Until that is he falls in love with a woman (Curtis) he is trying to use for a story. His love for her challenges his self perception and forces him to rethink his ways as he tries to save himself from a broken heart.

The film centres around a health club where he finds women obsessed with the pursuit of physical perfection (at least by their perception). Women who believe it is the only way they will ever be loved. Thematically it's quite tragic, and I was a little underwhelmed by the writer's lack of any real insight into that cultural problem but figured that was symptomatic of what was understood about mental health in the 1980s compared to today, so I forgive him that.

If you're not afraid of character driven narratives, like most people who only watch mainstream films, then you should find this film enjoyable. The pacing is a little slow and they linger for far too long on the aerobics sessions (although not if you're watching for pervy reasons) but if you can get past that and get behind the character's story then you should enjoy it.

Irresistibly bad. You'll love this!

[Movie-ManDan · 6/10 · 15 April 2012]

Definitely not awful, but I can see why its raved as being so. It's your typical superbly cheesy 80s flick that we've all seen and loved. Travolta portrays a young Rolling Stone reporter who's sent to LA to uncover a major drug case. He agrees to do so, but sees it as an opportunity to write another story on fitness clubs being like singles bars of the 80s. He tries to make both stories big successes while trying to woo a fitness instructor (Jamie Lee Curtis), who's had a bad experience with newspapers and reporters. Travolta, Curtis and the chicks rom Taxi and SNL are the only good actors in the whole thing, the rest sucks. Plus the script is bad and the exercise sequences are cheesy. It's so funny, ya gotta love it.

2.5/4

Guilty pleasure movie.

[m-47826 · 5/10 · 21 September 2021]

That Carly Simon cameo was everything. It's one of those 80s movies where the soundtrack gets all the attention. And the musical interludes too. I didn't care much about the McKenzie subplot. And producers too, hence all the aerobics segments, that made you want to enlist to the class. The search for perfection you sense throughout this decade, is clearly showcased by this movie. And they more or less made the most of the idea. You can't even talk about shallowness either, because some of the dialogues are good analysis of the mentality that was blooming back then. I don't see anything bad with wanting to take care of your body. So I was far from being insulted, or triggered by what I saw, in any way. And could easily forgive the movie's wandering script. There might have been something about a romance between the two leads, but really that's not the most striking thing about « Perfect ». And I thought Travolta and Curtis didn't have an outstanding chemistry, either.