use Net::FTP;

# You should 'use strict' if the final script is
# going to be any longer than 5 or 10 lines,
# which would make the next line 'my $ftp = ...'.
# Also, according to the Net::FTP docs, connect
# errors are reported in $@, not $!
$ftp = Net::FTP->new("$host", debug => 1) or die "Host:   $!";

# Error messages after new are reported in the
# message() method ($ftp->message, and don't put it inside
# quotes since methods won't get interpolated inside
# quotes). This method is documented in Net::Cmd, which
# Net::FTP inherits from.
# Are $user and $pass set to anything?
$ftp->login($user,$pass) or die "Login:    $!";

# Same comment as above.
$ftp->cwd() or die "Dir: $!";

# Are $file and $dir set to anything?
# Does $dir exist on the local system?
# Does $file exist in the current directory
# on the remote system?
# Is there a permission problem?
# And you don't need to backwhack the "/"
$ftp->get("$file","$dir\/$file") or die "File:    $!";
$ftp->quit;
[download]

Just wanted to say thanks to runrig, the line by line critique pointed out a (sadly) basic error I was having problems with doing something similar, but not directly related to this thread. When people take the time to fully explain like this it is amazing how much good can result, even on off topic matters. Thanks for your excellent commentary!
-Mike Gucciard
-Neophyte Perl Coder
-owner@funevilpeople.org