Thursday, February 11, 2010

THE UGLY TRUTH

Katherine Heigel, Gerard Butler, Eric Winter, Cheryl Hines




Opposites attract is normally a good topic to showcase in romantic comedies. This film set in Sacramento presents Abby Richter (Katherine Heigel) who is a producer of a lackluster morning news show. She is a hopeless romantic with a checklist of the traits of her ideal man. To boost ratings, her boss hires Mike Chadway, (Gerard Butler) a local cable host of a program called "The ugly truth". On his program he preaches that men only want sex in a relationship, they only respond to positively attractive women and men can't and won't ever change! His prejudiced and sexist attitude is totally offensive so Abby despises him. But he makes a deal that if she listens to his pieces of advice on love and relationships, she will be able to snag her neighbor Colin (Eric Winter), a hot looking doctor who seems too good to be true. The rest of the film unfolds on two story lines: the main plot with Mike and Abby teaming up to snag Colin, and the subplot of Mike breathing new life into the morning show. His presence ultimately boosts the ratings of the show, much to Abby's chagrin.

This film understandably has a R rating since most of Mike's dating advice tend to border on the crass, raunchy type. The dialogue was sometimes funny and often times a bit offensive to women but delivered with great comedic timing from Gerard Butler. Butler's public image as a "bad boy" type suits his role. Perhaps next only to Colin Farrell who I think would have been a good substitute for the Mike Chadway character. I noticed the good flirtatious chemistry between the two main leads. Their rapport was palpable even though they do have contrasting personalities. Mike is crude, sexist and chauvinistic while Abby is endearing, refreshing and romantic.

This being a romantic comedy, it is practically a given that Abby and Mike end up together. So that was quite predictable. But it was done realistically where they first get on each others nerves before becoming love birds. So for that matter, the film succeeds in becoming an enjoyable rom-com!

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