While not necessarily a reinvention of the rom-com genre, I’ll have to begrudgingly admit that ‘The Ugly Truth’ wasn’t nearly as bad as I expected. Much of that is due to the refreshing R-rating where the script wasn’t afraid to entertain the guys with consistent vulgarities.
That is not to say that the film isn’t utterly contrived and predictable, but at least the formula is thrown a bone with Gerard Butler’s entertaining misogynist. Katherine Heigl continues her successful, if calculated, run at big screen stardom after ’27 Dresses’ with the age-old rom-com protagonist, the overbearing and uptight Abby Richter, who just needs a guy to loosen her up.
Abby is a TV producer for a Sacramento morning talk show with the show’s run-of-the-mill stories not attracting the necessary ratings. Needing a shot in the arm, Abby and the show are forced to welcome Mike Chadway to the failing family. The star of a cult public access show, ‘The Ugly Truth’, Chadway tells it like it is when it comes to the relationships between men and women.
All easy-going vulgarity and macho swagger, Chadway insists that women need to throw away the relationship books and just come to terms with supplying the simple needs of men: sex. Abby is predictably shocked and disgusted by Chadway's antics but when it proves to be ratings gold, she has no choice but to suffer his presence.
She gets a chance to test his methods first-hand when, trying to score a date with a doc neighbor, she fails miserably the first-time and Chadway offers up a deal. He scores her the man and she willingly teams up with him on the show but if he fails, he walks. This sets up a modern-day Cyrano setpiece where Chadway talks into her ear through an earpiece instructing her on what to say.
Despite generally disastrous results, the plan works out as doc is attracted to her ‘carefree’ attitude even though that’s the complete opposite of who she actually is. But has Chadway inadvertently set up the love of his life with another man?
Screenwriters Nicole Eastman, Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith run out of steam moving into the final scenes where the unavoidable declaration of love is particularly strained and goofy.
Easy on the eyes but I’m still not convinced Heigl has the comedic chops to be truly successful in these types of roles. Her take here is overplayed and more annoying than it needs to be. Luckily, Gerard Butler is charismatic enough to balance her stiffness out and really proves to be the film’s lifeline.
Supporting work from Cheryl Hines and John Michael Higgins is mildly funny but not given enough great material to really stand out.
The film features a 1.85 1080p AVC encode that is as sparkly as you would expect from a recent theatrical Hollywood release. Detail and color pop and while there were some weird skintones (the film is constantly overlit), there is little to complain about here. Same with the English DTS-HD track.
Special features start with an audio commentary from director Robert Luketic and producer Gary Lucchesi for select scenes only. Next up is roughly fifteen minutes of deleted scenes as well as two alternate endings. ‘The Truth is Ugly: Capturing the Male & Female Point of View’ is a short featurette with cast & crew chiming in on the film’s Mars/Venus theme.
‘The Art of Laughter: A Making of Hilarious Proportions’ is next and sells itself a big high with a look at the comedy behind the characters. A gag reel and several trailers round things out along with a bonus digital copy as well as a new bonus started by Sony which is a digital bonus copy for the PSP.
Again, while not turning the rom-com narrative on its ear, I was reasonably entertained by a saucier take on well-worn material. Blu-ray specs are good so this should make for a fine date night in for couples.
The Ugly Truth [Blu-ray] is now available at Amazon . Visit the DVD database for more information.
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