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Review

How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days

Director

Donald Petrie

Year

2003

Rating

Reviewed by

Gon Curiel a.k.a. Groucho

Review date

Thursday, May 15, 2003

I would’ve never watched this, and only did so because my girlfriend insisted. No prejudice, though, it’s just that I already knew what it was about, how what it was about developed, and what the development led to. I was right about absolutely everything, it’s strictly push-the-buttons, paint-by-number, formulaic, predictable, disposable and clichéd entertainment. Also, it’s quite mean! But at the end of the day, it’s some fun. It’s comedy after all, albeit the dumbest kind. No mind required.

Let’s not get tough. They might break up with me. All right, the premise is clever: Andie (Kate Hudson) is a journalist who wants to prove that she can excel at causing any guy to break up with her by doing exactly what guys hate or fear, like invading his manly reunions, filling his bathroom cabinet with Tampax and nicknaming his penis a feminine name; she has the misfortune (or is it the other way around?) of picking Ben (Matthew McConaughey), a publicist who bets he can conquer any girl he wants by being exactly what women love. Neither knows about each other’s bet so you can guess what comes next:

A collection of excruciating situations where she pushes so hard it’s impossible not to hate her, while he’s so good to her it’s impossible not to pity him, while also hating him for being such a sissy. Truth be told, the situation is overall funny, but it makes the characters impossible to empathize with, because, for instance, how can anyone like a woman who gives such hell to an innocent man and seems to enjoy it, or with a man who fakes affection for a woman he actually hates?

There’s still no excuse, but it would’ve been great if they regretted or hated what they were doing, if she felt really sorry for the guy and wanted out of the experiment, if he fell in love with her and hated having to keep going against his better judgment but something kept telling him that she was the right one after all, but no, these yuppies have no connection to their feelings except when the story requires it, and that’s too late for us to care.

Oh, and it’s not only too late, but also too painful, when they finally connect to their feelings, after both have reached the point they wanted, don’t care anymore, and consider a happy ending… and then find out about each other’s bets. A musical number starring Marvin Hamlisch is so painful it easily constitutes Marvin’s worst participation in a movie, which is not hard since he’s given cinema so much. Then they sure as hell reject each other, hate each other, can’t be humble about their own faults, can’t figure out how hard it must have been for the other, and force an awkward conclusion that we simply don’t believe.

Kate Hudson is intolerable from start to finish and the situation described in the last paragraph makes it all the worse: she’s the one who’s most offended, even though, as we know, she’s really the one to fault. The script doesn’t help her and we can only like her looks, and not for long. Matthew McConaughey isn’t much help either, he plays the cool guy who talks like an idiot, and I frankly can’t see why any woman would fall for him. I guess the movie’s little world is as limited as its characters. Of course, that checks.

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Other reviews of How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003): Morris

Review

How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days

Director

Donald Petrie

Year

2003

Rating

Reviewed by

José Ruiloba a.k.a. Morris

Review date

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

I wasn’t too much into seeing this movie. I love Kate Hudson, but overall it seemed like another chick flick from around the corner that had nothing new to offer. One day I got to see it and blamed myself for judging it so badly. The movie won me over and had me in stitches, not to mention my love for Kate has grown a thousand times more…

Andie Anderson (Kate Hudson) is a charming writer for “Composure” magazine who is assigned a story about the things a woman shouldn’t do to keep her man around. She has 10 days to actually date a man and experiment with him. That’s how Andie sets her eyes on Ben Barry (Matthew McConaughey), a handsome advertising executive who made a bet with his friends that he could make a woman fall in love with him in 10 days. They obviously don’t know about each other’s evil schemes, so hilarity ensues.

I won’t say that this movie is ground-breaking or a revolution regarding romantic comedies, but what I can say, without hesitation, is that I had a great time watching it. Movies like this happen when the right combination of charming actors with chemistry and a good fun script merge together. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days has all that and it delivers.

I happened to see a certain romantic comedy with Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant two days after I saw this one and you could instantly tell the difference. Here it is all about the laughs. Here you actually care about the characters, you smile when something funny happens to them. Here you actually want them to stay together. You have no idea how much I laughed during most of Kate Hudson’s tactics to lose McConaughey. Fact is, she’s absolutely right, and the movie may even prove educational! Well, not that much, but the thing is it’s funny.

Kate inherited all the great talents of her mother. She shares the same kind of facial expressions and she’s just as charming. In this movie she shows she can be an excellent comedienne. Her comic timing is priceless. Oh, and she’s also gorgeous, so what’s there not to like.

I’d say this is a great date movie and an amazing showcase for both its stars.

“Which one, Andie or Princess Sophia?”

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Other reviews of How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003): Groucho