The Perfect Man

Holly Hamilton is tired of starting over. Every time her single mother Jean ends a relationship, the family packs up and moves, and Holly has to leave behind another school and another set of friends. After Jean's latest breakup, Holly decides to keep them where they are by giving her mother something to look forward to: an imaginary secret admirer whose messages and gifts will rebuild Jean's confidence. To make the courtship convincing, Holly borrows the identity of Ben Cooper, a restaurant owner she knows only slightly, and begins writing to her mother as him. The plan works well enough that Jean wants to meet the man behind the letters, while Holly's own feelings for a classmate, Adam Forrest, become increasingly complicated.

Mark Rosman directed the film, his fifth feature after The House on Sorority Row, The Invader, Life-Size and A Cinderella Story, from a screenplay by Gina Wendkos. Hilary Duff plays Holly, with Heather Locklear as Jean, Chris Noth as Ben and Ben Feldman as Adam; Vanessa Lengies, Mike O'Malley and a credited cast of 22 round out the production. It was made for about 10 million dollars and took roughly twice that worldwide.

On IMDb the film holds 5.5/10 from around 33,000 votes, and on TMDB 6.2/10 from 828 votes, figures that suggest a modest, mostly young audience. A critics' rating of 3.6/10 from 127 reviews places it well below those audience scores.