New on Blu-ray: The Ugly Truth

The Ugly Truth is every rom-com stereotype rolled into one movie.

Abby (Katherine Heigl) is the producer of a failing morning show. She is highly-organized and a bit of a control freak – she does background checks on her dates and outlines talking points for the evening. Mike (Gerard Butler) is a tell-it-like-it-is kind of guy with his own cable show, on which he rants about the differences between men and women in relationships. Abby’s boss decides his brash personality is exactly what they need to bring up the ratings of their own show and avoid cancellation. Abby and Mike form an unlikely friendship as he helps her snag her dream guy (Eric Winter), but they eventually realize they’re each other’s perfect match instead.

This is the age-old romantic comedy formula: boy meets girl; boy and girl hate each other; boy and girl fall in love. Unfortunately, it doesn’t bring anything new to the equation. The jokes are often predictable and the story lags because of it. Mike is a misogynistic ass for the first half, trying to convince women men are simple beings without feelings that only care about sex – like we haven’t heard that before. He tells women they’re single because they’re fat, so “get on a Stairmaster!” Not surprisingly, he’s only hardened because his heart was broken. Abby is every woman with a checklist for her ideal man, willing to settle for nothing less and alone because of it. Furthermore, the sexual innuendo is not really innuendo as they’re usually quite clear about what they mean.

Heigl is beautiful and competent as the obsessive control freak but her character’s willingness to change who she is so easily for a man is against her grain and somewhat insulting to her gender. Butler is the stronger of the pair, carrying most of the film with his high energy and flirtatious personality. On the other hand, most of his comments are appalling and his four lessons for getting a man make them out to be thoughtless Neanderthals, which he almost never proves to be with his quick wit, insightful observations and glimpses of sincerity.

The Monster-in-Law and Win a Date with Tad Hamilton director, Robert Luketic, is on a losing streak since Legally Blonde. The lack of realism in most of the situations makes it difficult to connect to the romantic element of the story. The morning show becomes a salacious circus and the main characters’ personalities are contradictions. On the other hand, The Ugly Truth could gain recognition for the second best orgasm in a restaurant, after Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally.

The special features include: 10 select scenes with commentary by Luketic and producer Gary Lucchesi; six deleted and extended scenes; two alternate endings; a 10-minute gag reel; cast and crew interviews in The Truth is Ugly: Capturing the Male & Female Point of View; a “making of” featurette; the BD-Live “MovieIQ” that connects to real-time information on the cast, music and other trivia while watching; and a digital copy of the film.

Review: The Ugly Truth

Take every rom-com stereotype, roll it into one movie, and you will have The Ugly Truth.

Abby (Katherine Heigl) is the producer of a failing morning show. She is highly-organized and a bit of a control freak – she does background checks on her dates and outlines talking points for the evening. Mike (Gerard Butler) is a tell-it-like-it-is kind of guy with his own cable show, on which he rants about the differences between men and women in relationships. Abby’s boss decides his brash personality is exactly what they need to bring up the ratings of their own show and avoid cancellation. Abby and Mike form an unlikely friendship as he helps her snag her dream guy (Eric Winter), but they eventually realize they’re each other’s perfect match instead.

This is the age-old romantic comedy formula: boy meets girl; boy and girl hate each other; boy and girl fall in love. Unfortunately, it doesn’t bring anything new to the equation. The jokes are often predictable and the story lags because of it. Mike is a misogynistic ass for the first half, trying to convince women men are simple beings without feelings that only care about sex – like we haven’t heard that before. He tells women they’re single because they’re fat, so “get on a Stairmaster!” Not surprisingly, he’s only hardened because his heart was broken. Abby is every woman with a checklist for her ideal man, willing to settle for nothing less and alone because of it. Furthermore, the sexual innuendo is not really innuendo as they’re usually quite clear about what they mean.

Heigl is beautiful and competent as the obsessive control freak but her character’s willingness to change who she is so easily for a man is against her grain and somewhat insulting to her gender. Butler is the stronger of the pair, carrying most of the film with his high energy and flirtatious personality. On the other hand, most of his comments are appalling and his four lessons for getting a man make them out to be thoughtless Neanderthals, which he almost never proves to be with his quick wit, insightful observations and glimpses of sincerity.

The Monster-in-Law and Win a Date with Tad Hamilton director, Robert Luketic, is on a losing streak since Legally Blonde. The lack of realism in most of the situations makes it difficult to connect to the romantic element of the story. The morning show becomes a salacious circus and the main characters’ personalities are contradictions. On the other hand, The Ugly Truth could gain recognition for the second best orgasm in a restaurant, after Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally.