Ever watched The Ugly Truth? You haven't? Don't.

The Ugly Truth (2009)




Starring: Katherine Heigl, Gerard Butler

Director: Robert Luketic

Genre: Rom-com



Want the real ugly truth? I had to force myself to sit through this whole thing. I didn’t like it nearly as much as I thought I would. Thankfully it was available to stream on Netflix, so I didn’t have to spend any extra money renting it.



First of all, the soundtrack was my personal pop hell: it featured Natasha Bedingfield, Katy Perry, and other songs that were overplayed on the radio, had nothing to do with the movie, and made me roll my eyes. Not every movie has to have soaring orchestral compositions or quirky indie ballads, but it sounds like the music director for the movie only had a 13-year-old girl and a recent album of “Now That's What I Call Music” at his disposal.



I’ve got some questions about this movie. At one point in time, Butler’s character acts like Heigl’s gay BFF and tells her how to get the man, since he knows what goes on in every man’s mind. But if he’s as macho and masculine as he says he is, why is he helping her get hair extensions, bra fittings, and a new dress? That doesn’t make sense. Speaking of which, why was Kevin Connelly featured in the opening credits? Granted, he’s the third most famous person in the movie, but why is someone who’s not even featured for longer than a cameo given relatively top billing?



There’s also lots of potty humor. Ordinarily, the more dirty jokes in a movie, the better for me. But not so much in a movie like this: for instance, you figure the f-bomb would be less abused in a chick flick as seemingly mild and predictable as this one initially appears. Apparently not. There’s also lots of talk of penises, a pair of vibrating panties worn to a dinner party, and even a scene where Heigl gets stuck in a tree, upside-down with her dress slid down to her face to reveal her sensible white underpants. To me, the humor is just plain schlocky and deliberate when it’s not being a giant dirty joke.



The plot is inevitable, formulaic, and predictable. The characters aren’t particularly endearing or believable. Heigl’s Abby comes across as stiff as a high school drama student and Butler’s Mike is an overblown, blustering ego (with a secret hurt deep inside to help explain the misogyny. Imagine that!). They soften as the movie progresses, but not truly to the point of believability. Put Butler back in Spartan armor or military fatigues where he belongs. I’ll believe that more than his story about a parade of women who broke his heart and made him the man he is.



As far as rom-coms go, this wasn’t one of the better ones. Wanna see a good movie in this genre with Katherine Heigl in it? Watch Knocked Up. She and Rogan are far more believable than she and Butler.