Movie Review - The Perfect Match

Terrence J is Charlie Mac, a photographer who's a bit famous but only within the entertainment industry. He works at a talent agency where he has to wrangle and pacify divas and divos. He has two main friends who are both in relationships and who pressure him also to be in a relationship because Charlie is a playboy. He simply has a string of one-night-stands. The character and the situations in which he's placed were inspired by the romantic comedy Boomerang (1992), starring Eddie Murphy.

Unfortunately, Terrence J is no Eddie Murphy. Arguably, if you're going to do a remake or even something that's even remotely similar to Boomerang, you're going to need someone who is on par with Eddie Murphy. Terrence J is good, but he's not as funny, as talented, as good-looking or as charismatic as Eddie Murphy was in that movie. Terrence J is quite frankly boring by comparison.

The premise is that he hooks up with all these girls without attachments, but the movie never convinces us as to why girls would throw themselves at him or be that into him at all. His photography work isn't that impressive or garnered him that much success. He does seem to have quite a bit of money, so maybe that's it, but he's certainly not the hottest guy in Los Angeles. He's not even the sexiest-looking guy in this movie.

Charlie's two, aforementioned friends are Rick, played by Donald Faison, and Victor, played by Robert Christopher Riley. Faison has more charisma and comedic chops that make him a way more interesting personality than Terrence J. Riley has the looks. He's bigger, more muscular and vastly more gregarious than Terrence J, so I would buy him as the playboy more.

Just as a romantic comedy, it fails. Mainly, it's not that well-written. Based on a screenplay by Dana Verde, this movie was written by Brandon Broussard and Gary Hardwick. I've never heard of Broussard before, but Hardwick wrote and directed The Brothers (2001), another, African-American, rom-com that was extremely well done. In various ways, this movie at times feels like The Brothers, but it just doesn't bring the romance or the comedy satisfyingly.

Charlie is supposed to fall in love with a girl named Eva, played by Cassie Ventura. Like Terrence J, she's another mistake in casting. If this is Boomerang, Ventura is supposed to be a combination of Robin Givens and Halle Berry. Yes, Ventura is beautiful, but again she doesn't have the charisma, the personality of either those two amazing women in that 1992 film. I don't necessarily blame Ventura. The script really makes her a bland or an empty vessel. Intentionally, the script never lets us get to know her, so when Charlie professes his love for her, I didn't believe it. Besides her beauty, I didn't get why Charlie fell for her.

The movie's comedy isn't all that great either. Boomerang had such great comedic bits and memorable lines that I can still quote, even though I haven't seen the film in over 20 years. Eddie Murphy not liking a girl's feet still makes me laugh, or Halle Berry saying, "Love should have brought your ass home last night" is a line that I'll never forget. This movie doesn't have anything as good as that line. I'm not sure this movie even tries.

Two Stars out of Five.
Rated R for sexuality, some nudity, and language throughout.
Running Time: 1 hr. and 25 mins.