SNMR 4.25: "Picture Perfect"

Tonight's SNMR feature is "Picture Perfect" (1997, PG-13, 100 minutes) starring Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Bacon, Jay Mohr, Illeana Douglas, Kevin Dunn and Olympia Dukakis. The film was directed by Glenn Gordon Caron.

PLOT SUMMARY: Kate (Aniston) is determined to turn her mid-level advertising job into an executive position - and equally determined to snare Sam (Bacon), the agency's ultra suave Romeo who prefers illicit affairs with attached women. She achieves both goals by pretending she's getting married to Nick (Mohr), a man she met at a wedding and barely knows. Her carefully constructed fictional life comes face to face with reality when her boss wants to meet Nick, sending Kate's personal and professional worlds spinning out of control and eventually crashing down on top of her.

MY OPINION: Here's a story that is cute, charming and has lots of potential but doesn't dazzle. The script is decent and has some funny moments but the ending is weak. Jennifer Aniston gives a good but not great performance. I thought Kevin Bacon was very good in his uncharacteristic, sleazy role. Olympia Dukakis, in her limited role, is believable as Aniston's obsessive, controlling mother. She has some of the best one liners in the film. I think Jay Mohr is excellent in this film and basically steals the movie with a heart-felt performance. This is a fun movie, plain and simple. Not the greatest romantic comedy you'll ever watch but certainly not the worst, either.

*** out of *****