Story of movie Perfect Film : This article's lead section does not adequately summarize key points of its contents. (April 2012) |
Perfect is a 1985 American romantic drama film starring John Travolta and Jamie Lee Curtis, directed by James Bridges. The film was based on a series of articles that appeared in Rolling Stone magazine in the late 1970s, chronicling the popularity of Los Angeles health clubs amongst single people.
| Perfect | |
|---|---|
Promotional poster | |
| Directed by | James Bridges |
| Produced by | James Bridges |
| Written by | Aaron Latham (article) James Bridges |
| Starring |
|
| Music by | Narada Michael Walden |
| Cinematography | Gordon Willis |
| Edited by | Jeff Gourson |
Production company | Delphi III Pluperfect |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 119 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $20 million |
| Box office | $12,918,858 (US) |
Like Two of a Kind and Staying Alive (though the latter was successful at the box office), response to the film was mostly negative and Travolta would not appear in another motion picture for four years.
Screenplay
Rolling Stone reporter Adam Lawrence (John Travolta) is sent from New York to Los Angeles to write an article about a businessman arrested for dealing drugs. During his stay in L.A., Adam sees a chance to collect material for another story about how "Fitness clubs are the singles bars of the '80s". He visits "The Sport Connection," a popular gym where he meets workout instructor Jessie Wilson (Jamie Lee Curtis) and asks for an interview. Because of a previous bad experience with the press when she was a competitive swimmer, Jessie declines.
Adam joins the fitness club and soon coaxes other club members to tell him about the gym and its impact on their love lives. Some, such as fun-loving Linda and Sally, are all too candid about their experiences with the opposite sex. Although she doesn't agree to be a part of his story, a romance does ultimately develop between Jessie and Adam, resulting in a moral dilemma; as a journalist he has lost his objective point of view.
Jessie comes to trust him. Less cynical than before, Adam makes a concerted effort to show Jessie that not all journalists are out for the cheap sensation. He writes an in-depth, fair-minded analysis of fitness clubs as a singles meeting scene. But it is deemed unacceptable by his boss, Rolling Stone's editor in chief Mark Roth (Jann Wenner).
Adam's article is turned over to others for editing, using material supplied by colleague Frankie, a photographer. She finds Jessie's long-ago appearance in a magazine with embarrassing details about a romance. Adam travels to Morocco for another assignment and is unaware of the changes being made in his story and too late to stop it. This has devastating impact on Jessie, as well as on others like Sally and Linda, described as "the most used piece of equipment in the gym."
Adam tries to explain the whole situation to Jessie, but can't. Meanwhile, he must attend a trial at which he's supposed to testify. As a reporter, using rights granted by the First Amendment, he decides not to comply with a judge who orders Adam to hand over tapes from the businessman's interview. Adam is jailed for contempt of court.
Jessie can see that Adam is a man of his word and believes him that he did not write the article the way it appeared in Rolling Stone.
- John Travolta as Adam Lawrence
- Jamie Lee Curtis as Jessie Wilson
- Jann Wenner as Mark Roth
- Marilu Henner as Sally
- Laraine Newman as Linda
- Anne De Salvo as Frankie
- Mathew Reed as Roger
- John Napierala as City News Editor
- Stefan Gierasch as Charlie
- Ramey Ellis as City News Receptionist
- Alma Beltran as Grieving Woman
- Perla Walter as Grieving Woman
- Gina Morelli as Grieving Woman
- Philippe Delgrange as Maitre d' in New York
- Tom Schiller as Carly Simon's Friend
- Paul Kent as Judge
- Murphy Dunne as Peckerman
- Kenneth Welsh as Joe McKenzie
- Michael Laskin as Government Prosecutor
- Robert Stark as Government Prosecutor
- Laurie Burton as Mrs. McKenzie
- Ann Travolta as Mary
- Nanette Pattee-Francini as Nanette
- Steven J. Zmed as hypochondriacal hustler
- Robin Samuel as Robin
- Robert Parr as Robert
- Rosalind Ingledew as Sterling
- Chelsea Field as Randy
- Dan Lewk as Steve
- Kenny Griswold as Kenny
- Ronnie Claire Edwards as Melody
- Carly Simon as Herself (Cameo)
The film was neither a commercial nor a critical success. Perfect maintains a 19% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and was nominated for three Golden Raspberry Awards: Worst Actor (John Travolta), Worst Supporting Actress (Marilu Henner) and Worst Screenplay. The movie was nominated for a Stinkers Bad Movie Awards for Worst Picture. In a 1994 interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Quentin Tarantino called the movie "greatly underappreciated."
The film is listed in Golden Raspberry Award founder John Wilson's book The Official Razzie Movie Guide as one of The 100 Most Enjoyably Bad Movies Ever Made. On October 16, 2015, the film was covered on the podcast for bad movies How Did This Get Made?
| Perfect | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Various Artists | |
| Released | June 4, 1985 |
| Genre | Pop |
| Length | 41:20 |
| Label | Arista Records |
| Producer | Ralph Burns |
The soundtrack to Perfect was initially released in 1985 as a 12" vinyl record, and later re-released on CD.
- Side A
- Side B
- "Sports Connection" fitness centre scenes were filmed in actual Sports Connection fitness club (now Sports Club/LA, a gigantic athletic facility in West Los Angeles), known as a place for singles to meet.
- In the opening scene, the camera pans in on The Jersey Journal sign in Jersey City.
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