The Ugly Truth (**½)
Directed by: Robert LuketicStarring: Gerard Butler, Katherine Heigl, Bree Turner, Eric Winter
Seen: October 16th 2009
**½ Out of ****
I can’t remember that I’ve seen a romantic comedy that is both so believable and unbelievable before. Believable in only some moments of connection and romance between the characters, unbelievable in many more. Abby Richter (Heigl) is a morning show producer in California, and not all her monkeys are in check. She has a checklist for potential dates, she prints out their dating website profile pages for the date (confirmation of details maybe?), and also informs the date that she has done a background check on them – a recipe for disaster if ever there was one. After another failed date she goes home, and on TV she sees Mike Chadway (Butler), a rather crass, but very smooth talking operator. Mike has a cynicism regarding the dating game that goes unmatched, and Abby calls in to his show to put him in his place, but Mike talks circles around her…
Abby’s show is in danger of being cancelled should the ratings not climb high enough soon enough. The next morning, Abby walks into the boardroom to find that her bosses have hired Mike in a desperate attempt to get their ratings up, and Abbey is immediately on the defensive. The two do not get along with each other at all, Mike claiming that Abby is a control freak, and Abby calling Mike disgusting. Naturally something has to happen to pull the two closer together, and the event happens to be Abby meeting her next door neighbour, Colin (Winter). She is immediately smitten with the perfect looking doctor, who does surprisingly well on her checklist too. Now low and behold Abby starts taking advice from Mike on how to get Colin. Wait a minute, did she not just label him disgusting? Well, forget about that, because now the two are thick as thieves, as Mike tags along on dates and gives Abby advice on an earpiece.
Yes, things go pretty much as can be expected, as Abby gets Colin, but Mike now realises he wants Abby, the one he labelled a control freak earlier. Yup, it’s pretty much like that, the humour isn’t bad at all, but you sit and wonder, every now and then, why would these two seem to enjoy their time together this much, especially in light of the circumstances? Mike spoils a weekend away for Abby and Colin, but Abby is not upset with him in the least, in fact she dances with him, seductively so.
Apart from the obvious flaws, The Ugly Truth is somehow one of the more honest dating films I’ve seen, and for that reason my rating does not drop to 2 stars. The two characters might not have complete reason to be attracted to each other, but some moments and some things stated as the Ugly Truth kind of ring true (even though I can’t really put my finger on them now…). But maybe, just maybe, this is a pure case of opposites attracting (and thus a breath of fresh air for the movie never explicitly mentions it as so). Word of mouth before the release of the film had me thinking this was going to be an extremely crass American Pie-like experience, but apart from quite a lot of swearing and a scene involving vibrating clothing, I can’t truly see what people are offended about. Just don’t investigate the plot too deeply, and enjoy it for what it is.
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