Picture Perfect (1995 film)
Picture Perfect is a 1995 comedy film by Feature Films for Families (FFFF) starring Richard Karn and Dave Thomas. First telecast October 14, 1995 on ABC, the film is about a pair of teenage neighbors who enter their 'family' – both households combined – into a contest for a soda company; they must keep up the charade if they want to win.
| Picture Perfect (1995) | |
|---|---|
_VHS_cover.jpg.webp) VHS cover art. | |
| Directed by | Joseph L. Scanlan |
| Produced by | Julian Marks |
| Written by | Gregory K. Pincus |
| Starring | Richard Karn Dave Thomas Mary Page Keller Lisa Jakub Christian Campbell Cecilley Carroll John Lefebvre Nada Despotovich Von Flores |
| Music by | Micky Erbe Maribeth Solomon |
| Cinematography | Laszlo George |
| Edited by | David B. Thompson |
| Distributed by | Feature Films for Families American Broadcasting Company |
Release date | October 14, 1995 |
Running time | 96 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Plot
Alan Walters (Christian Campbell) and his single mother, Vicky (Mary Page Keller), live next door to widower George Thomas (Richard Karn) and his daughters, JJ (Lisa Jakub), and Delia (Cecilley Carroll). Alan enters both families in a contest sponsored by Barrett's Natural Soda, with the condition that the company's CEO, Ernie Barrett, will come to live with them at the Walters house for a week to find out if they are the perfect family; he brings along Marco (Von Flores), a FBI photographer, to record it. Though all of their kids are close friends, Vicky and George are dysfunctional neighbors, and are constantly at each other's throats. With their poor relationship, and all the people they have to cover for, problems pile up as the two families pretend to be one. JJ and Alan even try multiple times to get rid of Vicky's boyfriend, Bob Blanford (John Lefebvre). The situation gets even more complicated by the arrival and meddling of fake FBI agents Sloan and Malone (Ric Reid and Peter Keleghan); a very nosy neighbor named Eve Scrimmer (Nada Despotovich), who plans to tell Barrett they aren't really a family at all, but fails; and George's boss, Amanda Holt (Lori Hallier), who pursues him for a relationship. In order to stay in his book business, he has to try to keep the contest covered up from also her. Alan ultimately decides to use a dating service to set Bob up with Eve.
During Ernie's stay with the family, they have a fine time at the beach, with barrels of laughs involving a parents' night out at a classy restaurant called Gillian's and an open mike night at the Beef & Beer. At the open mike, George gets stage fright until Alan comes up on stage and grabs an electric guitar; George and Alan sing "You Really Got Me". At the tail end of Ernie's stay, a lot of pressure builds about how the family is going to get through the contest without their lie being discovered, and avoid getting arrested for fraud by the FBI. George's boss, Amanda, catches him with his pants down, and he has to lie, as Ernie is also there. George also lies about her to Ernie, to avoid embarrassment. Vicky's boyfriend, Bob, and Eve show up to intensify the situation, ending with them falling for each other. Just as Ernie dubs them the winners of the contest, the whole clan comes clean, blowing their cover to Ernie. He gets upset, thinking he has to start all over again, as he now knows that they are not a real family. He sees George and Vicky kissing, which convinces him that they finally have made up and are willing to make it work; this leads to George and Vicky getting married.
Cast
- Richard Karn as George Thomas
- Dave Thomas as Ernie Barrett
- Mary Page Keller as Vicky Walters
- Cecilley Carroll as Deila Thomas
- Lisa Jakub as J.J. Thomas
- Christian Campbell as Alan Walters
- Von Flores as Marco, Mr. Barrett's documentary filmmaker
- John Lefebvre as Bob Blanford, Vicky's clueless boyfriend, who wants to move the relationship to the next level. The children dislike Bob, and attempt to get rid of him multiple times. The family tells Mr. Barrett that Bob is their next-door neighbor, Mr. Popporoppakovsky.
- Nada Despotovich as Eve Scrimmer, the classic nosy neighbor. She uncovers the two families' deception and attempts to blow their cover by telling Mr. Barrett.
- Lori Hallier as Amanda Holt, George's editor; she is constantly blackmailing George to go out with her or she will refuse to edit his novels.
Other cast members include Barbara Gordon as Alan's Grandma Matilda; Peter Keleghan and Ric Reid as Sloan and Malone, two FBI agents who are investigating Ernie Barrett; Michelyn Emelle as FBI agent Ella; Bill Copeland and Maggie Howard as Harvey and Rachel Blanford, Bob's parents; Robert Windsor as Maitre D'; and Addison Bell as Bruce Miller.