SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Acensbart Excellent but underrated film

Jakoba True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

everygirl101 The reviews for this movie seem to come in two flavours: folk gushing over it, calling it beautiful and brilliantly made and artistic and so on, or people dismissing it as a pretentious and hamfisted attempt at an arty movie that falls short of its ambitions.I just had to come down in the middle. The film is filled with attempts at art-house style directional and cinematic choices that most certainly tread a fine line on taste and quality, and the plot is - I think unapologetically - pure melodrama.But that said, it does that melodrama really darn well. The music swells, our heroes bite back their tears and tamp down their emotions until the dam bursts, and you're right there with them when it does. Initially neither protagonist is terribly likable, but then, neither woman is who they're supposed to be, and we get to see them open up as the story is told.Initially I'd perhaps agree that there's a shortage of romantic chemistry between the two female leads, but then one could argue that since their initial encounters are driven by anxiety, how could there be? It just makes the thaw and the bond that does develop (I'm sure that doesn't count as a spoiler in an obviously romantic movie, does it?) all the more satisfying. The layers of their relationship unfurl over time, and that's the way these things happen sometimes.And as unreasonably beautiful and perfect the 'call girl' character is in this, the fact she shares the same amount of (or less) exposed flesh on camera with a 59 year old woman is not to be dismissed. This matters. Would that more mainstream, less niche movies could be so brave. And good on Barbara Niven for going for it.Finally, there's not a dud performance in the piece. This is important when what lets so many lesbian movies down is the acting quality and production values. Both are high here, even for the bit players. The weakest actor is probably the inexperienced Jessica Clark as Paris, whose vocal delivery is a tad one note and initially comes across as a little clichéd, but what she lacks in vocal performance she more than makes up in raw charisma, and she gets across the combination of poise and vulnerability the character needs admirably.Anyway I dunno, I didn't really mean to go on forever here and I don't generally do reviews. I just popped my head round the door here to see what other folk had thought, and seeing the conflicting trends among the reviewers, I felt the need to buck 'em!There's too much denigration of straight (lol) down the line romantic melodrama, to my mind, particularly for LGBT folks. Our culture at large tends to devalue and dismiss it as frivolous and trashy and while I don't want to get into a rant about patriarchy or toxic masculinity, well... I'm just sayin', if you need this kind of story in your life, THAT IS OKAY, I'm with you, and you might find what you're looking for here.

nowhereboy68 What can I say ?? Again Nicole Conn has in my opinion created another masterpiece!!!!!! Without doubt this is one of my all time fave films !!!!! Nicole Conn is an excellent fantastic director ..... Jessica Clark is outstanding in her role as Paris makes me proud to be British I adore her and the on screen chemistry with the amazing Barbara Niven wow!!!!! All the elements work Like it was meant to be ..... Everything works !! The story the dialogue even the music ! I have to admit I love this film so much I watch it at least once a day!!!! The story is so so fantastic ...... It reaches across the lines ...this is a mainstream film it is not just for the LGBT community ...this is a universal message of love I could not recommend this film highly enough!!!! Please I encourage you to watch ... I hope this team works together again very very soon xo

Anita McRae I have seen lesbian themed movies before. "A Perfect Ending" is so layered, I found it to be three movies in one. There was so much to be embraced in this work of art by Nicole Conn, this is by far her best work since "Elena Undone". I was so moved, I cried, every time I watched it, I saw myself, I saw my Mom, I saw a friend or two, there was so much to relate to. At the same time, it is a feel-good movie that should have gone mainstream. Nicole Conn gives us an outlet, a venue in which to see ourselves. "A Perfect Ending" is nothing short of "Perfect". Soulkiss films have always been a favorite among my collection of lesbian themed films. Others come close but never compare. Nicole Conn is the best storyteller on the planet. She tells "our" stories, she gives us fantasies, she gives us hope, she leaves us wanting more. She does this with class, dignity and I believe, A Perfect Ending is not a lesbian themed movie. It is a movie. Period. Because as lesbians, we are here, and we are society, and separate from no one.

gooba3 I love this movie for all the reasons other viewers have given. After seeing this movie, I am a forever fan of both Barbara Niven and Jessica Clark. I can name only a few on-screen couples that can take your breath away with their chemistry -- they are in that small group. Add to that, their very moving performances filled with touches of brilliance and you find yourself totally swept up into their love story to the point of actually believing they could be a real couple. THAT IS RARE. They totally sold it. That is all we can ask of actors. So Niven and Clark did their part (their best) for this movie. And I thank them from the bottom of my heart because I now have a treasure to revisit, over and over, because of them. I wish the same could be said about the writer and director, Nicole Conn. She had gold in the palm of her hand and all she had to do was shape it and mold it into the greatest same-sex movie of all time. Instead, she chose to make this movie into an artsy showcase of her "creativity" while totally disregarding the feelings of the viewers. If she hadn't wasted so much time on close-ups of focused and out of focus objects, Paris in the white room suffering from guilt, Rebecca and Mason fighting over his molesting her daughter (which was completely pointless), Paris working on her art, Paris at work being with men as a hooker (disgusting and unnecessary), Paris having sex with her boyfriend/husband (also unnecessary), Ms. Conn could have, instead, spent that precious time developing the strong bond between Rebecca and Paris with their own words describing the growing love, passion, respect and need for each other. Alas, she didn't. She chose to leave much of that to the viewers' imagination while forming a bottomless pit of questions. Like, why didn't she show Paris informing Rebecca that she had left the service? (Rebecca's greatest dream for her.) Why didn't Paris ever say "I love you" to Rebecca even though we all knew she did. Why were the couple's words to each other during their love scenes drowned out by music or kept so low in sound that no one could hear them. And here's the biggest why of all. WHY make the ending the way it was made? To me, that is NOT a perfect ending. That is a terrible ending. And it could have been so easily avoided by changing the ending to one of pure joy for our beloved couple. Rebecca, right there by Paris' side, at the gallery showing of Paris' art. Both beaming happily, holding hands for all the world to see. Imagine the power that Nicole Conn possessed while writing this story. She could have chosen a more positive, more powerful message with this type of ending. Love triumphs over all. Any love. Even same-sex love. Instead, viewers who genuinely love this movie cannot watch it over and over to enjoy the love and the passion displayed between the beautiful leads without feeling the dark cloud hovering overhead. And that's not fair. There should have at least been two different endings made for the viewers to pick from. That would have been the fairest. Also, at the beginning of every "bonus scene" that was cut from the final film version that was released (available on the DVD version), Nicole Conn's voice can be heard saying how she hated to lose that particular scene but it had to be cut due to limited time. My advice to her: Cut, instead, all the artsy close-ups, all the unnecessary junk you put in and you would have had plenty of time for those beautiful extra scenes of Rebecca and Paris being together and lighting up the screen!