“The Ugly Truth” Movie Review… (Writing for PR & Promo)

The wonderful smell of pop-corn fills the air and with a few concession items in hand, my girlfriend and I are out on a date to see a movie. The worthy viewing choice? None other than “The Ugly Truth,” a wonderfully entertaining romantic comedy about the battle of the sexes. Can you handle the truth?

Mike Alexander – a chauvinistic morning talk-show commentator, played by Gerard Butler (300, Phantom of the Opera) – host a segment known as “The Ugly Truth,” where he dishes out the hardcore truth about the relationship between men and women and what makes them tick. Abby – an aggressive, list-making, type-A personality, television producer, played by Katherine Heigl (Grey’s Anatomy, Knocked Up) – is a woman who just cannot seem to find her perfect guy. After verbally sparing on-air when Abby calls in to Mike’s show, she finds herself having to work side-by-side with him when her boss teams them up to help bring ratings up for their show.

Curiosity got the best of me before deciding to write this review as I was wondering what other reviews were out there that were written by men. Turns out that there is a lot of them. Not surprising is it that I discovered most of them either gave it a bad or very mediocre review. The ugly truth for them? They can’t handle the truth. Why is that you wonder? Probably because they saw the ugly truth in themselves and are just trying to deny it by lashing out on the movie itself. A quality I seem to notice a lot about movie reviewers (more on this another time).

You want it from a real mans point of view? While the story-line and dialogue are quite predictable, in the same vein as “How to Loose a Guy in 10 Days,” and where there are some very over-the-top moments where the truth is stretched, there are actually a lot of good things about this movie. Now, it makes sense that like most “chick-flicks,”  a lot of women will and most guys just will not like it, but I bet the secure and more mindfully aware they are of themselves, those are the ones who will enjoy it. The whole concept of the story is written and designed to make the viewer think and feel just a little uncomfortable, because let’s face it, at some point in your life you have have known someone just like the characters or you yourself are or once were those people. I know that I have. You can deny it all you want, but that is the ugly truth.

Yes the movie pokes fun of stereotypes. Yes, it is cheesy. It is a romantic comedy! That is what it is suppose to be like. Even though one could pick it apart from a cinematic point of view, the ugly truth is that most people do not go to see movies to analyze them, they go for the experience and emotions that they give to us. I recommend this movie. Ladies – most of you will like it if you are into romantic comedies and fun stuff as such, Guys – own up, be a man, admit and enjoy it.  Though I especially recommend couples go see it – you will have many fun things to talk about afterward if you are a good communicator. I promise you this – you will laugh and you will enjoy this movie very much, if you can accept The Ugly Truth.