User Reviews

...not nearly as funny as the book. Why? Mainly because they had to clean the language and nearly everything else up from the book or the film would have been rated X. Dan Jenkins writes hilarious books but they tend to have a lot of cussin' in them. His use of the English language has a decided Texas tint to it and it is flat-dab funny! I love Jenkin's writing style. He's written several funny books, probably the most popular of which is Semi-Tough, which was also made into a film. However, it, too, fell short of the book. But that's a different review. This film is still pretty dang funny, so by all means watch it. But be sure to pick up the book!

"Dead Solid Perfect" is another stereotyped sports movie, only this time it's not the underdog baseball team we're rooting for, it's Randy Quaid playing a second tier pro golfer. In the movie's favor is the fact that Quaid is somewhat sympathetic, as opposed to the obnoxious characters he usually plays. The film is part golf movie and part relationship primer, pretty accurately depicting the conflicts between men and women who are involved with the tour. Of special note is Jack Warden's performance as Randy Quaid's sponsor. Warden easily steals every scene he is in. If the predictability of "Dead Solid Perfect" can be overlooked, you will find it entertaining. - MERK

Although not his biggest commercial success, ‘Dead Solid Perfect' may be the funniest book written by one of this country's great talents, Dan Jenkins.

In the text, there is a combination of comedic genius, and a true love for the subject matter, the game of golf. Add 50 some years of experience reporting on the game, and Mr. Jenkins has just about every aspect of this story nailed, cold.

I know many who think one of his earlier books, Semi-Tough to be an exemplary piece of writing, I agree, but the film it produced turned out luke-warm as best.

This film is better, although it can not be described with the superlatives of Jenkins original. Sometimes it's just impossible to capture the essence of such multi-layered characters on film in 2 hours or less.

Not to knock Bobby Roth, or the two principals, Randy Quaid, and Jack Warden who both did good turns: Quaid as Kenny Lee, the talented but struggling tour golfer and Warden as `Bad-Hair' Wimberly, the cash-rich sponsor. The film stumbles and rumbles to a storybook conclusion.

For golf fans it's a good movie and certainly more honest and original than Tin Cup. For the rest I'd say only fair.

The first time I saw this movie I was just a kid going into H.S.. I am now 32 and to remember the movie so well and that Randy Quaid was in it ( who at the time may have not been the most popular actor ). I think this is a testament to how great the film is. Back then I could not have been any more of a golf fan than I was at 2. This only supports my point of how great a performance Randy Quaid gave and how great the script was for this film. I believe it is a great tragedy that it is not available on DVD, especially considering how much garbage is available. For those who might care please re-release this film on DVD so that fans can enjoy the movie again and more people could have a great film like this available to them....

however, when it was finally released, and I watched it, I really didn't find it all that impressive.  About the only thing really worthwhile about this movie is that there's one point where I can point to a vague bluish blur, and tell anyone else present "that's me".

  There was one thing that struck me about this movie.  I am aware of a culture within the entertainment industry that seems to think that in order to be any good, a movie has to contain a fair amount of obscene language, nudity, gratuitous sex, and other similar garbage.  In watching this movie, it seems to me that its makers felt compelled to include a certain amount of this, but that they felt that doing so would interfere with the story they were trying to tell.  So what they did was to cram as much of it as they could into about the first 15 or 20 minutes of the movie; and then — having got that out of the way — they then went on to tell the story with very little further inclusion of such material.  You could completely cut out the first 15 or 20 minutes of the movie, and not miss it; and what remains could be shown on network TV during prime time very little further editing for content.

You take a big swing with a wood or metal or plastic mallet, a dimpled white ball goes speeding off. There is no one to catch it or try to take it away from you, or prevent you from retrieving it. You walk or ride at a leisurely pace to whack at it again. When you get close to the hole you give it a tiny whack until it falls in. You might get caught in a "trap" or a "hazard" or in the "rough" which to anything but a helpless paraplegic is none of these things.

So what makes it exciting? Money and girls! The latter are very good in this film--the rest, like watching paint dry.

Corinne has a small but highly memorable part as "Janie Rimmer", Randy Quaid's girlfriend. When challenged to go nude to the the hallway ice machine, she does so, in a slow, proud walk that shows off her incredible body. Ah, happy sigh.......

For a film that was hard to track down, this was a monumental letdown. This movie was quite pricey on the online marketplaces but after Randy Quaid went off the deep end the price for the film dropped and I picked it up. I should have left it alone, for it was an unfunny, uninvolving dramedy with clichéd characters and situations. If Tom Jenkins' book is as bad as the screenplay adaptation he makes of his novel, then it must be a terrible read.

The film focuses on a down-on-his-luck, self-absorbed golfer, Kenny Lee (Quaid) and his trials an tribulations with the pro golf circuit, women and his own ego. He is in the midst of a failed marriage with Kathryn Harrold so he finds the floozies on the circuit acceptable, which leads him to sexy airhead Corinne Bohrer. With his marriage on the rocks, his golf game begins to rise but he can't quite apply the finishing touch and win a tournament. Something is needed, but is it something missing or something he is neglecting?

STORY: $ (What a terrible, unfulfilling story this makes. Jenkins borrows every plot device he employs in this film from better sources. We even have our "Magic Negro" caddy, well played by Larry Riley. The concept of love in the film--which is a predominate influence in the overall film--is watered down and not depicted well. You never get the impression that Quaid and Harrold have a strong relationship because Jenkins' skill as a writer is wanting. His clichéd ending will make you sigh with despair as will the insipid method he chooses to expose Bohrer and Brett Cullen's fling to Quaid. I don't know if Tom Jenkins wrote the screenplay or if he had his ten-year-old nephew pen it for him, but what we have here, for a finished product, is nothing professional but something juvenile and lacking any originality.

ACTING: $$ (The acting is hit or miss. Quaid, who I always liked as Cousin Eddie, struggles to give Kenny Lee much identity. As the lead he gives a very weak performance. The character actors do a far superior job. Both Jack Warden and Bibi Besch shine as eccentric Southerners that bankroll Kenny. Brett Cullen gives a strong performance as the playboy golfer and Corinne Bohrer is a treat as Kenny's free-spirited fling who resists the restraints of monogamy. Kathryn Harrold does a solid job with the limited resources Jenkins writes for her and DeLane Matthews does a quality job as the ever-faithful wife to the philandering Brett Cullen.

NUDITY: $$$$$ (Apparently, the reason this film has a high price tag isn't for the strength of the story--because it has no strength--but the allure of Corinne Bohrer's full frontal nudity. We already know she's a free-spirit (the politically correct term for a tramp) because she tells our hero that his marriage isn't an obstacle to him bedding her. Yet Jenkins feels his audience needs more proof that she's untethered and has her stroll down the motel hallway to fetch a pale of ice wearing nothing put her birthday suit. Corinne Bohrer, although typecast as an airhead, has an extraordinary, and natural body. It's quite sad when a film that isn't an erotic thriller has to rely on breasts, but that's all DEAD SOLID PERFECT has going for it--a dead solid perfect nude scene from Corinne.