Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
I am going to have to see this film. It’s not a choice. There are times when you pay your girlfriend back for sitting through the DVD of THE TWO TOWERS for the fifth time or for being willing to see ICHI THE KILLER or HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES with you, and this Thursday night, it looks like I’m paying it back. I’ll just stare at Kate Hudson and pretend every line of dialogue is about how she’s attracted to potato-shaped Kevin Smith lookalikes who write SF films and kung fu sequels. Yeaaaaaah... that sounds good...
Hi Harry:
Hope all is well with you. With all the flurry of action going on a Sundance, I thought I would report in on a screening I attended over the weekend. I know so called "Chick Flicks" aren't mentioned that often on your website (though thank you for posting my "White Oleander" review in the fall), I thought at least a few of the female...and male...AICN readers might want a heads-up on this movie.
The screening was of the new Kate Hudson/Matthew McConaughey rom-com, "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days." First of all, I hate long titles for movies. They are just unnecessary and the only reason this wasn't just called "How to Lose a Guy" is because Kate Hudson's character writes "How To" stories that always have time limits (like "How to Get Flatter Abs in 5 Minutes" type stuff). But I digress.
The basic story is that Kate Hudson plays Andie Anderson, a columnist at chic women's magazine called Composure...obviously a Cosmopolitan rip-off, right down to the fact that the NYC landmark they use as the office building for Composure is the outside of the Conde Nast (publishers of beauty stalwarts Glamour and Vogue) building.
Andie's columns are always "How Tos" stories with mundane titles like "How to Feng Shui." But what Andie really wants to do is write serious articles about politics and the horrors of places such as Tajikistan (???) So her boss says that if she does this one last lightweight article...How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days...she has the ticket to write whatever she wants in her column.
So Andie agrees to meet a guy and lose him in 10 days using all the dating don'ts that women do - saying I love you on the third date, moving girlie stuff into the guy's apartment, crying after sex, being clingy and needy, etc. - then writing about it in her article.
In comes Matthew McConaughey as Benjamin Barry (Isn't cute how both Matthew and Kate have alliterated super hero style names! Okay, that's my nod to the "geek" readers at AICN), an ad executive in NYC. Ben's specialty is sports marketing, but he wants to get into something bigger. Notably diamonds. So he's tipped off his boss that the world's largest diamond controller is searching for a new ad agency. But the boss gives the pitch to "Lips and Hips" a team of two beautiful execs (Michael Michele of "ER"and model-turned-actress Shalom Harlow) whose specialties are luxury goods marketing. Side note, Michael Michele is so beautiful that she makes Shalom look like Purina in every scene they share.
However, the boss promises Benjamin the pitch if he can make a woman fall in love with him before the big party the company is throwing for the prospective diamond client...in TEN days. And said girl has to come to the party as Ben's girlfriend.
"Lips and Hips" pick out Ben's target...Andie...knowing that she's writing the "How to Lose a Guy" column. From there it becomes a battle of the wills. How hard is Andie willing to make it for Ben in order to scare him away (her tactics include calling his mother without his permission and showing up for his guy's poker night and taking over) and how much will Ben take in order to get the business pitch.
Some of the stuff is pretty funny and both actors react accordingly. Andie can't believe that Ben is putting up with her crap and Ben can barely stomach all the saccharine and smothering Andie is piling on.
But of course they eventually fall for each other and of course both sides discover the other person's rouse and what they have to gain from the situation.
I won't go into too many more details as this is a charming, and funny movie. As in all rom-coms it ends predictably, but in this case, not overly sweet.
The movie is cute and reminded me a lot of anther McConaughey rom-com..."The Wedding Planner," though I like Hudson more than J. Lo (which is not saying much considering both are fairly low on my tolerance meter). I would've liked to have seen more of both Hudson's and McConaughey's sidekicks...particularly Adam Goldberg ("Dazed and Confused" and some of the funniest episodes of "Friends") and Thomas Lennon ("Viva Variety" and "The State"), but I understand why they aren't shown more.
The easy review would be "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days"....take him to see this movie, but that's not entirely true. My guy Christian came along with me and he enjoyed it, but spent frequent parts of the movie with his hands over his eyes in agony...his standard stance whenever a character in a movie is making an ass out of oneself...which is a lot in this film. Hudson is definite eye candy for the guys and her lack of bra wearing throughout the film will make the males very happy. Honey, I understand you're flat chested, but COME ON, sometimes you just need a bra. And of course Matthew McConaughey will bring in the ladies. He seems to have found his niche as the Cary Grant/Rock Hudson in light fluffy romantic comedies. And that is not necessarily a bad thing. I enjoyed him all scruffy in "Reign of Fire," but put him in a Brioni tux like he wears at the climax of "How" and he is golden.
The movie will probably do really well since the other comedies ("Two Weeks Notice" and "Maid in Manhattan") have both been out a while.
Until next time, this is your Sparkling Diamond, Satine.
Satine, I have to ask... didn’t the trailer give away literally every single beat of this one, right down to the ending? Because it sure looked that way to me.
Doesn’t matter, of course, because that press screening Thursday night’s got my name all over it. I’ll pray for the best, and I hope the bralessness gets me through.
"Moriarty" out.
