Abby Ritcher (Katherine Heigl) is an uptight producer for a failing daytime TV show, she likes things done her own way and when she doesn’t like something or someone she has no qualms about making it known. Abby, despite being stunning and very successful is unlucky in love, her inability to give into her control freak nature makes it almost impossible for her to give any man the chance to even get to know her.
Mike Chadway (Gerard Butler) is a loud, crude and brash womaniser who hosts a television show on a barely noticeable satellite channel. On Mike’s show The Ugly Truth he explains to women how they’re never going to find a man, how men are incapable of thinking about anything other than sex and that they should basically give up and go home. His show is very controversial and when Mike is hired on Abby’s show to bring in ratings they immediately clash, however upon hearing about Abby’s recent love interest, the gorgeous surgeon Colin (Eric Winter) Mike offers her his services. He tells her that if she does exactly what he tells her, Colin will be putty in her hands however nothing is simple where love in concerned…
I’m a big fan of romantic comedies however after Katherine Heigl’s last rom-com 27 Dresses I was somewhat pessimistic about what The Ugly Truth could bring to the table that would make me forget about 27 Dresses and the dire Knocked Up and enable me to see the upcoming actress in a new light.
Luckily this film ticks all the boxes for what makes a
great romantic comedy; there’s the good looking leads, other love interest and of course the sheer hatred for each other at the start. I wasn’t expecting this film to be so funny, usually with romantic comedies it may give me a slight chuckle however with The Ugly Truth I found myself laughing at a lot of the gags because they were just so outrageous.
This isn’t your usual romantic comedy, it’s rated 15 and that’s for a good reason, the film isn’t for the prudish or easily offended amongst us however if you’re not easily offended you should get yourself down to the cinema pronto because you’ll absolutely love this. I have to say that this was one of the best romantic comedies I’ve seen in a very long time and it knocked all of my expectations out of the window.
In the two previous Katherine Heigl films that I’ve found myself subjected to I found her to be a very one-dimensional character with no hint of a personality behind the blonde hair and perfect figure however she manages to shake off that image slightly with this film; I say slightly because she still plays a sort of one-dimensional character with no hint of a personality behind her looks however she manages to do it with a bit of charm and hilarity in this film which I was pleased about. Her character is relatable to a lot of people however I’m not sure if her character is supposed to give hope that people like her can still find love or whether it’s supposed to scare them into hiding for the rest of their lives after finding out what men REALLY want!
Gerard Butler was the highlight of the film for me, Mike Chadway is such a contrast to the character of Gerry that he portrayed in the heart wrenching PS, I Love You. At first I didn’t think I was going to like Mike Chadway, he immediately comes across as an arrogant, chauvinistic womaniser who thinks he can charm any woman into bed with his cheeky smile and smouldering good looks. As the film progresses we get to know the character of Mike though and I really warmed to him, it was obvious that he was going to have a back story which was going to be revealed later on but even without learning of his past I still fell in love with him probably just like every other woman who’s ever seen him on screen! I much preferred his character to the character of Abby, as aforementioned you learn of Mike’s past however you don’t get to learn much about Abby and why she’s so uptight which I was a little disappointed with.
Some of the gags in the film are very silly, the warring middle aged couple who present the daytime show with Mike try way too hard to be funny and come across as asinine and juvenile which was a shame because they were funny for the first part of the film with their sly digs at each other which any married couple will relate to.
Another highlight for me was Eric Winter as Abby’s love interest Colin, Colin is a very stereotypical character and has no place in the film apart from being the gorgeous man with a models body who just so happens to be a doctor. However that’s why I liked him, his character did become a little annoying as time went by simply because he never had anything decent to say, he was supposed to come across as the perfect guy and looks-wise he is although given a personality his character could have been a little bit better.
I think the ending was a little bit of a letdown, there was no big build up to it, things just simply happened subtly without really noticing it. Of course the ending was very predictable like all romantic comedies so to make up for that they should have included a dramatic climax, maybe a Bridget Jones style fight would have done the film justice or just something to make it a bit more tension filled and less predictable in who Abby is going to choose in the end. The ending was very cheesy as well but I think it actually worked quite well, it was quite stereotypical and extremely unoriginal but when watching romantic comedies you need to enter the cinema with an open mind and the phrase ‘take it with a pinch of salt’ comes to mind. This film epitomises this phrase as you really do have to take everything on face value without reading too much into it.
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this film, there were numerous laugh out loud moments, the obligatory romantic yet predictable ending and likeable characters, however I think The Ugly Truth will standout amongst other films from the genre because of the rating and the content of the film, if you’re expecting a light-hearted and fluffy film that you can watch with an optimistic 12 year old girl who dreams about marrying price charming then you’re wrong. This is a film for adults as it’s very crude however it’s a highly likeable film that rose above all my previous scepticism to be a thoroughly enjoyable romantic comedy that I would happily watch again.
If you’re looking to purchase this on DVD when it is released then input your email address into play.com in order to be notified when it’s released. The film is currently still out at cinemas if you’re planning on seeing it.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
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Production Year: 2004 - Comedy - Director: John Hay - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Jennifer Love Hewitt, Jimi Mistry, Kate Miles, Dougray Scott
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