flamepillar's Full Review: How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
Move over, teen movies... the 20's movies are taking over. Or so it seems when you see one like How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days at the top of the box-office charts.
I was making one of my little Audio Journals on the way to see this movie, and I recall asking myself, "What is my genre?" Because I can tell you right now that romantic comedies ain't it. They're just too depressing for an introverted love-a-holic like myself.
But every now and then, there's that one... and this is it. Make no mistake where you are.
When I continued the tape after leaving the theater, I said it was the best movie I had seen so far this year. An impulsive statement, to say the least; but looking back, I believe I can still stand by that statement.
So why? Why why why why why? It just felt great. Watching this whole movie felt completely great. Laughter came more times than I could count on two hands (or even three), the touching moments were truly touching, and I felt right at home with these two.
What is the good word?
Andie (Kate Hudson) writes "how to" articles for Composure Magazine. She would like to write about bigger issues in the world, but her boss will have none of it. When one of her girl friends is dumped and on the brink of suicide, Andie comes up with an idea for an article, "How to lose a guy in 10 days". The article will be based on an experiment where she goes out, finds a guy, hooks up with him, and then proceeds to drive him away by doing all the little girly things that vex the male species.
Then we have Ben (Matthew McConaughey) who is in the jewelry business. He wants to make a sales pitch for some diamonds, but he has some heavy competition from Scary Spice and her cohort over there. So he makes a bet -- if he can make a girl fall in love with him in 10 days (10 days, how convenient is that?) then he gets to make the pitch. Simple enough, right?
So Ben walks right up to Andie, and they're out the door. Both with a mission, neither privy to the other's true intentions. As Vanessa Williams once said, "Where do we go from here?" Well that's the fun part, and no amount of spoiling could ruin the magic of the moments or the sheer hilarity of others. But I'm still not gonna do that.
So what's so great about it?
Well I've got to get it out of my system -- Kate Hudson is GORGEOUS. I've never seen anything so beautiful! Her smile is all over the big screen like a ladel's worth of hot chocolate on an ice cream sundae, but I willed it all the more. She is just as pretty as a daisy. (Blame Valentine's Day.)
She really took this role to the top. Andie is like the girl of my dreams; she is sensitive and caring, and you can tell when she starts to do her little experimental things to Ben, that she really doesn't want to. Kate knew all the little things to do and just when to do them, the charismatic body language, aww screw it I'm biased.
As far as Matthew McConaughey goes, well I don't watch a lot of TV so I am probably not as "tired" of him as many others are. I thought his look just fit the role perfectly. His eyes carry an ardent smile every bit as well as his mouth does. There is a kind of self-depreciating look about him throughout the movie. While his character is constantly tormented by Kate's trying to "lose the guy in 10 days", he knows that he cannot win the bet unless he makes her fall in love with him. His character has to exude patience while looking like he's having a really tough time doing so.
Foo Fighters fans, give a nice round of applause to Dave Grohl who reveals what a great actor he is! Okay well according to the credits, Dave's not really in this movie, but one of Ben's friends (the guy's name is actually Adam Goldberg) is a dead ringer for Dave Grohl. Everything from the beard to the hair to the shape of his face to the smile. That was Dave Grohl, man. I don't care what anybody says.
Although it was a bit slow to start, the movie runs along at a fairly brisk pace once it gets into 3rd gear. Then you just sit back and enjoy the ride. It's funny, it's good-natured, and it's actually very sweet.
And, pray tell, why not five stars?
Well, right near the end of the movie, let's just say it really goes out of its way to get certain information to certain people. Then, as I mentioned earlier, there are minor contrivances such as both bets lasting for 10 days, and there is the occasional cliche such as the shot of the girl in the back seat of a taxi, where you can see the guy chasing the taxi out the back window, which was also done in A Guy Thing not even a month ago and who knows where else.
The ending is also rushed and kind of "all over the place" if you catch my drift. A lot of "heat of the moment" acts occur, one leading to an impromptu performance of Carly Simon's "You're So Vain" on stage. But oh well, at least they picked a good song.
It seems that Hollywood will never run out of unusual ways for people to meet, hook up, break up, and so on. How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days takes an original idea that's not as complicated as it sounds, and milks it dry. They're coming up with some pretty creative problems lately; now if only they could come up with some creative solutions.
But, then again, you can't show the solution in the trailer so what's the point?
Movie Reviews, Music Reviews, and other Nonsense
http://www.flamepillar.com
Oscar nominee Kate Hudson (Almost Famous) and Matthew McConaughey (A Time to Kill) give the battle of the sexes an outrageously unexpected twist in th...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.