August 31,, 1997 -- "Picture Perfect" is an example of what film critic Roger Ebert calls "the idiot plot." It is a story that wouldn't happen if any of the characters had a shred of common sense. Despite that, the film isn't too bad.

The main thing that makes it watchable are the performances of Jennifer Aniston, Jay Mohr and Kevin Bacon. The three make an interesting romantic triangle, despite numerous plot problems, such as the story is basically unbelievable.

Kate Mosely (Aniston), an ambitious account executive, happens to bump into Nick (Jay Mohr, who played Bob Sugar in "Jerry McGuire") at a wedding and a photo of them together is taken. The photo is used by Aniston's friend, Darcy O'Neil (Illeana Douglas) to get Mosely promoted. It turns out that Mosely's boss won't promote her unless she goes deep into debt or gets engaged. Rather than telling her boss that Mosely's deep in debt, she tells him she's engaged to the guy in the picture, Nick.

Wait, it gets stranger. Mosely has a crush on Sam Mayfair (Kevin Bacon), but he ignores her until he learns she is engaged. Now, suddenly, he's interested in her. About this time Nick just happens to be a hero, he saves a kid from a fire and is all over television. The boss wants to meet him. You can imagine what happens next. No, you can't. It gets even stranger.

After even more unlikely plot twists, the romantic triangle part of the story heats up and Nick makes a serious play for Mosely. Aniston, Mohr and Bacon are quite good together. Their characters are interesting despite the plot and the film has its moments. Parts of it, though, are painfully stupid. It rates a C-.

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Copyright © 1997 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.