| Perfect | |
|---|---|
Promotional poster |
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| Directed by | James Bridges |
| Produced by | James Bridges |
| Written by | Aaron Latham (article) James Bridges |
| Starring | John Travolta Jamie Lee Curtis Jann Wenner Marilu Henner Laraine Newman Anne De Salvo Mathew Reed |
| Music by | Narada Michael Walden |
| Cinematography | Gordon Willis |
| Editing by | Jeff Gourson |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) | June 7, 1985 |
| Running time | 119 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $22 million |
| Box office | $12,918,858 (US) |
Perfect is a 1985 American film drama, directed by James Bridges and starring John Travolta and Jamie Lee Curtis.
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.
Contents |
Rolling Stone reporter Adam Lawrence (John Travolta) is sent from New York to Los Angeles to write an article about a businessman arrested for a drug dealing. 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 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 Jessie the whole situation 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.
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.
| 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.
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