Sigh. The demise of the humble rom-com has been going on for a while now; few films embody what went wrong better than Robert Luketic’s effort from 2009. With a hot pairing of Katherine Heigl and Gerry Butler, it wouldn’t seem hard to strike sparks with a basic Taming of the Shrew scenario set against the world of cable tv, but pretty much everything that could snarl up happens here; unsympathetic leads, silly scenarios, a wealth of sexual crudity and a debatable truth about men and women that ends up feeling rather…ugly.
Abby (Heigl) is a tv producer in Sacramento; she seems to know very little about news, tv or romance. Into her life comes Mike (Butler), an unreconstructed male-chauvinist who somehow scores a hit with his home-made show which encourages men to understand a few of his home truths about romance. Men are man-children in Mike’s book, incapable of love or change, and women should just get with the programme and pander to their needs; bikini mud-wrestling is on brand for Mike. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, Abby falls under Mike’s spell, and even though she uses his techniques to wow a local doctor, Abby can’t help feeling that macho-man Mike is the potential suitor she really needs…
Written by three women, The Ugly Truth feels like it was written by one inebriated man; Mike is meant to be an alternative to self-help books, but it’s Abby’s self-esteem that seems to be under question. She invests in, sigh, a set of remote control vibrating knickers to stimulate herself, only to have the live handset stolen by a child while she’s at a busy corporate business dinner, with non-hilarious consequences. This scene apes When Harry met Sally’s infamous orgasm scene, but while Meg Ryan seems to be striking a blow for women with her fake orgasm performance, in this instance, it’s all about a major pratfall for Abby here. With some very crude dialogue to navigate, Abby eventually succumbs to Mike’s charm in a hot air balloon, although his mocking of her ‘spazzy dance’ makes him a resistible prize.
It’s worth noting that although The Ugly Truth made over $200 million at the worldwide box office, yet there is no call for a sequel, Butler has largely avoided rom-coms since this came out, and Heigl hasn’t had any kind of a hit in a decade. Making a bad movie that does well can be a curse; after the tired, offensive shenanigans presented here, it’s no wonder the public didn’t fancy any more of the same…
Bit harsh. It was a pairing of two unlikely stars-in-the-making – Heigl the unexpected break-out star of Grey’s Anatomy. I remember it as quite acceptable at the time, though retrospection may not be so kind. Heigl had another couple of hits – Killers $98 million box office and Life As We Know it $105 million – but came unstuck as private eye Stephanie Plum in One for the Money (2012) which was a clear attempt to expand her range.
Thankfully I haven’t seen it, I’m insensed, hmm, incensed? Anyhoo I’m naffed off enough just reading the review. And 3 women?? Phillistines!
Put the incense away, this isn’t a massage parlour! Imagine how naffed I was after seeing the whole film…
💯 cosign. I try to be very generous, even with films I don’t like, because it takes a lot of work and talent to make even a bad film. But for this one I have nothing but no hold barred contempt. It is the bottom of the barrel and may be the absolute worst rom com I’ve ever seen bar none…..
I hear you. Now, how many more to co-sign before we launch a class-action lawsuit against those responsible?
Yeah, no.
And written by 3 women. No excuses then or claims of blowing up the patriarchy from you!
Nope. The patriarchy blew me up and they used this film to do it.
Well, glad to see you survived (somewhat) intact anyway.
Just about. Still suffering, it’s like getting sugar in your petrol tank.
I’ve never understood why “that” is considered a prank. It is outright malicious property damage. That’ll kill a car wicked fast :-/
Agreed. I’ll stop doing it if it’s causing your distress. Was only meant in fun.
Don’t worry Dix. If you ever HAD put sugar in my gas tank, you’d have only done it once 😉
* ratchets carbine *
I only needed to do it once, now that your engine is immobilised, I can just run away and you can’t catch me!
Run fast little bunny, run FAST!
See, now this is some quality conversation. You’re not going to get this on a booktuber video thingy….
* swing cane around *
If audiences don’t want this kind of badinage, what DO they want?
Beats me. I remember when people PAID to see such snappy dialogue, quick witted replies and hints of violence. Now they get it for free.
Now that I read what I just wrote, I don’t like it at all. makes me feel like I’m part of the world’s oldest profession 🙁
I had to google the world’s oldest profession, anf the answer is ‘toolmaker’
What’s making tools got to do with it?
Because I’m being used by the hoi poloi instead of being put in a glass case in a place of honor and reverenced like the jewel I know I am.
Like a gilded amythyst knob?
I knew you’d instinctually understand!
It’s how I genuinely think of you, I can’t fake it!
Hahahahahahahaa…..
I remember seeing the remote-control scene as a preview clip and thinking there was no way I was going to watch this. And I never did.
I watched it for you. Where do I send my invoice?
I can only pay in Ethereum-Max, is that OK? I think it’s currently trading at around 0.00000043 of a cent but it may rebound.
I’m all about cash for crypto, so yes, fire away.