Movie Review

How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days

must admit that I?m not a huge fan of romantic comedies, or at least the majority of ones released in the last four-to-five years.

But I did have some hope for How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days because it had Kate Hudson (and not Meg, Julia, or J-Lo), it wasn?t marketed directly to the TRL crowd, and it had the unique premise of a girl trying to do everything wrong to get a guy to dump her. I?m happy to report that I was pleasantly surprised by How to Lose a Guy. The premise proved to be genuinely funny and inventive (for about an hour at least), as Kate Hudson has the "winning adorable-ness" of her mother, Goldie Hawn, and she does have a light, charming chemistry with Matthew McConaughey. However, as with most recent romantic comedies, it was a little too much of a good thing as it dragged on about fifteen-to-twenty minutes too long. Still, I think women will enjoy the distinctly intelligent and feminine point of view and men can certainly appreciate the plight of McConaughey?s character as he deals with a new girlfriend who?s moving way too fast with the relationship and acting a little psychotic.
Hudson?s character, Andie, is a writer and an aspiring journalist working at a women?s magazine very similar to Cosmopolitan. She has been given a new column by her editor (an under utilized Bebe Neuwirth), a column that will be written as a "How Not To" guide to dating. Andie will find a guy to date, and in ten days she will do all the wrong things that women typically do early in a relationship that drive men away, and get him to dump her. Andie, of course, picks Benjamin Barry (McConaughey in full "charming good-ole boy" mode), a hotshot advertising executive who has made a bet with his boss and two female colleagues (who are vying for the same account as Benjamin). Therefore, earning him the right to be the lead executive on a strategically important diamond manufacturer account.

Now once you get past (if you?re able to) all the inherent implausibility in such a scheme (really, this only happens in the movies and on WB shows), the movie does take off when Andie and Benjamin begin to date, and it is delightfully wicked at times. Hudson is especially good at playing the alluring, sexy, confident young woman who would drive men wild, who slowly begins to turn into the girlfriend from hell. She shows real joy and delight in turning the tables on Benjamin?s lady-killer by doing all the wrong things on purpose. She slowly becomes possessive, clingy (calling him at work, leaving 20+ messages on his machine, ruining his poker night, etc?), unstable and jealous. As Andie tries to get Benjamin to dump her, he is pulling out all the romantic stops to get her to fall in love with him. When Andie and Benjamin are pursuing their agendas, the movie has a snap and witty spark about it and I found myself laughing a lot.

Ultimately, these two game players are meant for each other and once the secrets start to unravel, the movie loses some of its steam as it lumbers toward its inevitable conclusion. However, I did find the comedy to be a nice diversion and it certainly is an enjoyable night at the movies, if not the perfect DVD rental for a date, a night with friends, or as a little-less witty double feature with Bridget Jones.

Todd's Grade: B-

A	38.5%
B	61.5%
C	0.0%
D	0.0%
F	0.0%