Ugly Truth, The – 2009
*** Out of ****
The Ugly Truth is a guy’s romantic comedy. It's ruder, cruder and less fluffy then the average romantic comedy and with a bit more bite for its buck. In fact, The Ugly Truth is a fairly untraditional rom-com...until it becomes a traditional rom-com. For movies you hate, it is easy to despise the whole package and move on, but for movies you mostly enjoyed but find were never fully realized, it is almost even more disparaging.
What ultimately separates this film from the flood of yearly chick flicks is a strong male lead, found in the form of 300 star Gerard Butler bolstered further by the fact that this film is actually funny. This is Butler's movie to be certain, his pithy chauvinism and boyish charms glaze over the flaws in his female counterparts role. Starring opposite Butler is Katherine Heigel who has broken strongly into mainstream with hits like 27 Dresses and Knocked Up. While ultimately dwarfed by Butler, she is certainly endearing and lovely and makes for good eye candy as you laugh at the others.
As I hinted at above, The Ugly Truth could have been so much more if it had not fallen into convention. While that is the way of the rom-com, at least with films like The Proposal you know from the start that clichéd is what you’re going to get. Because of this flicks first act departure, its descent into rudimentary territory is considerably more jarring and disappointing. Regardless, this film is funny, characters are actually allowed to swear and the two leads are likable enough to root for even if you want something more.
Butler stars as Mike, a roguish television star, who hosts a hit show called The Ugly Truth. The hook is that he spouts the unspoutable; never sugar coating the truth of how men feel about women and how women should react to this discovery. When a larger television syndicate wishes to pick up Mike's show in order to boost sliding ratings, he instantly clashes with the uptight and idealistic Abbey (Heigel), the studios producer. While never on the same page, they fall into a plan where Mike will help Abbey find her prince charming using the ugly truth about what prince-maybe-not-so-charming actually wants in a woman. Coaching her in her quest to seduce her next door neighbour (Eric Winter) Mike agrees to leave the studio if his program is not effective. But could these crazy cats find love with each other instead?
Aside from Butler there are some laughs to be had from the studios two anchors played by Cheryl Hinds and John Micheal Higgins and that essentially rounds off the entire main cast. Butlers bravado and line delivery go a long way in making this umpteenth romantic comedy of the year enjoyable, even if the package a whole is not as bold and ugly as they would have you believe.
© 2009 Simon Brookfield
