A Perfect Plan (2020)

(On Cable TV, April 2021) In discussing so-called bad movies, it’s often useful to distinguish the difference between the actual quality of the film and how strongly we feel about this lack of quality. The first factor can be surprisingly objective — you can perform the anatomy of a sequence and point out how it’s flatly directed, badly written, transparently badly acted or hampered by substandard technical means and decisions. In discussing A Perfect Plan, for instance, you’d feel obliged to talk about actors being unable to maximize the potential of their characters, the script that mishandles its own best ideas, the lackadaisical direction, the stilted dialogue, the weird structure, the plot contrivances, and so on and so on. But then there’s the subjective aspect of my reaction to those flaws, and the truth is that I still liked A Perfect Plan quite a bit. Shot in Hamilton, ON (!) and visibly hampered by a limited budget, it does have several flashes of fun peppered through it, as the script seems almost gleeful to play with genre elements, as Hamilton’s cinematic potential is presented, as the actors tackle well-worn genre archetypes and as the conclusion does everything it can to make sure we get a happy ending. It’s also a pure genre entertainment piece, unburdened by any overt attempt to tackle broader themes. (At a time when many low-budget Canadian films feel obliged to wave their identity credentials, this almost counts as refreshing.)  I think that writer-director Jesse Ikeman can do much better now that he’s got experience helming a film and being aware of his strengths — I’d certainly like to see A Perfect Plan’s energy applied to a better script and a bigger budget. It’s not that good of a film, but I liked it more than I expected.