Picture Perfect (1997)

A young advertising executive's life becomes increasingly complicated when, in order to impress her boss, she pretends to be engaged to a man she has just met.

Director:

Glenn Gordon Caron

Writers:

Arleen Sorkin (story), Paul Slansky (story)

Stars:

Jennifer Aniston, Jay Mohr, Kevin Bacon

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jennifer Aniston	...	Kate
Jay Mohr	...	Nick
Kevin Bacon	...	Sam
Olympia Dukakis	...	Rita
Illeana Douglas	...	Darcy
Kevin Dunn	...	Mr. Mercer
Anne Twomey	...	Sela
Faith Prince	...	Mrs. Mercer
John Rothman	...	Jim Davenport
Meg Gibson	...	Mrs. Davenport (as Margaret Gibson)
Paul Cassell	...	Brad
Ivar Brogger	...	1st Ad Executive
Peter McRobbie	...	2nd Ad Executive
Bray Poor	...	3rd Ad Executive
Daryl Edwards	...	4th Ad Executive

Storyline

Kate is working on a career at Mercer Advertising but is passed up for promotion because she's 'not stable enough', still being single and having no ties to the company. A story is made up about her being engaged to Nick, a guy whom she just met at a friend's wedding, and all seems to work out well for Kate. She even gets the attention of a colleague she had always wanted, but events soon take a dramatic turn, forcing her to 'present' her alleged fiance to her boss.

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Plot Keywords:

female protagonist | yuppie | working woman | new york city | guilt | 

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Taglines:

Kate always lived her life by the rules...some rules were meant to be broken

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sensuality and related dialogue

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 August 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

El retrato perfecto

Filming Locations:

Central Park South Restaurant, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$7,809,026, 3 August 1997

Gross USA:

$31,407,873

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$44,332,015

Company Credits

Production Co:

3 Arts Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

For his kissing scenes with Jennifer Aniston, Jay Mohr sought advice from Tom Cruise on the set of Jerry Maguire (1996).

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Goofs

When Kate is sitting in the seats, waiting to present to the group towards the end of the movie, right before she explains the lie about Nick, she orders food from a girl. When she goes to pay she finds the watch Nick left for her, but she never pays for the food.

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Quotes

Nick: So how do you think it's going?
Kate Mosley: Um, fine, I guess. But, you know, if one of us doesn't start this fight pretty soon, um, everyone's gonna MISS it.

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Connections

References The Little Rascals (1955)

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Soundtracks

They Can't Take That Away From Me
(uncredited)
Written by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin

User Reviews

This is beyond charming - it has heart

A seemingly small movie yet it's beyond charming, it has heart. Don't dismiss this as an expanded version of the TV series Jennifer is in, she's what she is, yet she fits into this story so well, playing opposite Jay Mohr and Kevin Bacon, with Ileanna Douglas as her best friend and Olympia Dukakis as her mom – it's Jennifer Aniston perfect.

The heart may not be evident in the beginning, especially with Jennifer's central character, but hang in there, heart becomes more and more ever present as you follow the story closely. My appreciation for the nuances of this movie did not come deeper until I sat through it again on cable over the weekend. I remember I liked the movie in general and that Jay Mohr gave a very good performance – he's just as becoming as Jennifer is. They do seem like a perfect pair.

This could be a date movie: especially for a single young woman with career ambitions (here it is in advertising), who thinks she can be self-sufficient without any ties or warmth from others, including mom. It is very much a city woman movie. It is maybe for the 20 to 30 something's, yet there are lessons in loving that anyone can take away with. Essentially, it is about how we can take for granted the people around us and not realize the little things in life that are free and in abundance for us to receive and enjoy – if we would only open our eyes, pause - truly listen, and let the heart do the rest.

Trivia: There was a play on the movie title as it first appears and appears again. Ha! Have fun and enjoy.