The Perfect Guy is a 2015 American thriller film directed by David M. Rosenthal, starring Sanaa Lathan, Michael Ealy and Morris Chestnut.
Plot[]
| Spoiler Warning: The following contains important plot details of the entire film. |
Successful lobbyist Leah Vaughn (Sanaa Lathan) is unhappy in her relationship with her boyfriend Dave King (Morris Chestnut), who refuses to commit to her wishes of starting a family, causing them to break up.
Two months later, she meets the charming Carter Duncan (Michael Ealy), who works in IT for another company. They quickly grow close and he works his way into the hearts of her friends as well as her mother and father.
On their way home from a trip to San Francisco to meet her parents, a stranger at a gas station asks Leah about Carter's Dodge Charger. Carter viciously attacks the man before the mortified Leah, and he takes off when the station's owner orders them to leave. Distraught over his actions, Leah decides to break up with him that night.
Over the next several weeks, Carter stalks Leah at her job and makes numerous phone calls, even after she changes her phone number. Unbeknownst to her, he also intrudes into her house with her spare house key, feeling around her belongings, hacking into her computer and abducting her cat. She finally decides to go to the police, meeting with Detective Hansen (Holt McCallany) who advises her to keep note of any further attempts Carter makes to contact her.
Leah later finds a threatening note and a single red rose attached to her car and files a restraining order against Carter, causing him to lose his job. Some time later, Dave contacts Leah about rekindling their relationship and Leah eagerly agrees.
One night, Leah & Dave find Carter watching them at a restaurant and Dave grimly warns him to stay away. They still notify the police and after Hansen interrogates Carter over the violation, Carter feigns innocence, stating he had no idea she was there and that Dave was aggressive towards him. Hansen lets him go.
One night, Leah's neighbour, Mrs. McCarthy (Tess Harper), discovers Carter inside Leah's house, and Carter pushes her down the stairs, killing her. Carter secretly videotapes Leah and Dave as they sleep and make love and uses Leah's work email account to send the video to her co-workers and her business's clients, causing her to be suspended from her job. Carter also sabotages Dave's car, causing it to crash and suffocates the injured Dave.
Both Leah and Hansen are certain that Carter is involved in Dave's death even though they lack the evidence necessary to incriminate him. After investigating further, Hansen learns that Carter's real name is Robert Adams and that he changed his identity after a similar series of harassment. He subtly tells Leah to take care of him on her own if necessary, leading her to buy a shotgun and shells.
Leah discovers Robert with a new identity with another woman. She frightens her off and files another restraining order against him in front his new employers, once again getting him fired. She then manages to find a hideout of his where he monitors her, as well as finding her cat. She destroys his numerous computers and leaves, daring him to come after her again.
That night, Robert breaks into Leah's home and, after luring him to an empty room, she aims her gun at him. After managing to knock the gun out of her hand, a struggle ensues, which ends with her shooting him twice with bean bag rounds in an attempt to immobilize him. After he continues to advance, she shoots him with a real bullet and kills him.
A now relieved Leah reports Robert to Hansen as an intruder and the police cart his corpse out of her house.
Cast[]
- Sanaa Lathan as Leah Vaughn
- Michael Ealy as Carter Duncan
- Morris Chestnut as David King
- Tess Harper as Mrs. McCarthy
- Charles S. Dutton as Roger Vaughn
- L. Scott Caldwell as Evelyn Vaughn
- Kathryn Morris as Karen
- Rutina Wesley as Alicia
- Holt McCallany as Detective Hansen
- Ronnie Gene Blevins as Dalton
- Shannon Lucio as Cindy
- Michael Panes as Cooper
- John Getz as Tom Renkin
Production[]
The principal photography for the film began on August 6, 2014, in Los Angeles, California.
The film was shot mostly at night using Sony digital cameras and anamorphic lenses. Much of the shooting used available light to create a “mysterious” look because the film's director of photography, Peter Simonite wanted the film to be dark.
After 34 days of shooting, "The Perfect Guy" wrapped up filming in mid-September of 2014.
Reception[]
Box Office[]
"The Perfect Guy" opened at #1 at the box office, grossing $25,888,1154 in its opening weekend despite the fact that the film wasn't screened for critics or had previews on Thursday nights.
As of September 25, 2015, the film has grossed $45.8 million.
Critical Reception[]
"The Perfect Guy" has received generally negative reviews from critics.
On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a rating of 19%, based on 26 reviews, with an average rating of 3.9/10.
The site's consensus reads, "The Perfect Guy threatens to tip into enjoyably depraved territory, but ultimately settles for timid thriller clichés."
Metacritic gives the film a score of 36 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".
On CinemaScore, audiences gave the film an average grade of "A-" on an A+ to F scale.
Michael Rechtshaffen from The Los Angeles Times said the film had "more clichés than thrills."
Eddie Goldberger from the New York Daily News gave the movie a one-star rating, saying, "The only difference between this thrill-less thriller and a Lifetime movie is a $15 ticket."
Despite the negative reviews, Entertainment Weekly gave the film a "B-", saying the film "escalates quite nicely, leading to a satisfyingly white-knuckled finale.
Theatrical Trailer[]
The Perfect Guy - Official Trailer