The Perfect Man (PG)

Another month, another anodyne tween-com from Hilary Duff, whose unfortunate surname becomes more apt with every flimsy star vehicle. This one sees her as a daughter who cooks up an imaginary boyfriend for her flighty cake-making mom (Heather Locklear), not realising her "perfect man" is already on the scene in the form of Sex And The City's Chris Noth.

How long will it take to realise her mistake? Far too long in the hands of director Mark Rosman, who drags this trifle out in the hope Duff's charms will come to the rescue. They don't, leaving us with little else to do but marvel at Locklear's strangely immobile features and the hilariously crummy dialogue. "Love is friendship on fire," says Hilary's boyfriend, a sentiment almost as sappy as her mother's belief that "every day holds a potential for beauty." Not on this evidence.

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