Gerard Butler, oh Gerard, the future was so bright. After 300 we were willing to overlook P.S. I, Love You, no one should make a film with Ms. Swank anymore, especially when steady grower into an awesome film RocknRolla had you being so freaking funny and willing to debase himself with some scenes, mainly the getting the arse out and the sex scene, god that sex scene, so unbelievably graphic. Nothing like that in his latest venture, Produced and starring Knocked Up's Katherine Heigl as a woman who is human and can't find love, but film cliches say she will at the end. She's a sad story too, after the brilliant Knocked Up where she wasn't just some gal, but a full character, human to the bone, she went off and made 27 Dresses, and because she was in two big hits, now produces this film with her sister, or cousin or mother, or something.
So, one of the first R-Rated Chick Flicks for a long time, The Ugly Truth is about Heigl's TV Producer struggling to accept the bringing in of Butler's shock jock TV show host to boost ratings as he explains his misogynistic views live on air, leading to Cheryl Hines' and John Michael Higgin's married anchor-people going from hating to loving each other in one reel, ending their portion far too quickly.
Boy and Girl hate each other, must work together, and sure enough they bond as he tells her how to woo a man of her dreams kinda guy, amidst comic moments where she falls over, off a tree, and all that malarky that's genuinely cringeworthy and would be out of place if this film were aiming to make a human romance story, which it's first 20 minutes seems to believe so.
You know the big twist at the end, all the drama and everything, down to the dialogue it's all there, and it's nothing special. As an R-rated film, yes there is some vulgarities, but nothing too much, and the most raunchy part is, thankfully, the film's funniest scene, with a kid picking up what he thinks is a toy in a restaurant but is the control for a pair of vibrating undies Heigl is wearing as she presents her ideas for advertising during sweeps to the big guns. You know what's gonna happen, but it's still rather funny.
The only other times you laugh is when Butler is being a real piece of work and making sex jokes, they are childishly funny.
Sub-plots come and go, Butler's character's nephew is introduced, used a few times to make Butler a nice guy, and then disappears, Heigl's assistant had little to do, the man of her dreams does nothing until the end where he becomes and arsehole. Heck, they even have E from Entourage in it and only gives him one short scene.
It's not The Proposal calibre, but it has it's moments, and would be awful if it weren't for Gerard Butler's talents leading the way into the light of this generic mess, a shame as it could have been a really near-the-knuckle Truth About Cats And Dogs for the 21st Century, maybe in a few years someone will change rom-coms for the better by turning them on their heads, has there been a romance flick that ended with one of them murdering the other one sadistically? Maybe 2011...
6/10
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