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DVD How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (Widescreen Edition)
Kate Hudson twinkles as the heroine of How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, a magazine writer assigned to date a guy, make all the mistakes girls make that drive guys away (being clingy, talking in baby-talk, etc.), and record the process like a sociological experiment. However, the guy she picks--rangy Matthew McConaughey--is an advertising executive who's just bet that he can make a woman fall in love with him in ten days; if he succeeds, he'll win a huge account that will make his career. The set-up is completely absurd, but the collision of their efforts to woo and repel creates some pretty funny scenes. McConaughey's easy charm and Hudson's lightweight impishness play well together and the plot, though strictly Hollywood formula, chugs along efficiently. At moments Hudson seems to channel her mother, Goldie Hawn, to slightly unnerving effect. --Bret Fetzer
Review(s): DVD How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (Widescreen Edition)
GHOSTS OF DAY AND HUDSON
This entertaining if unmemorable film harkens back to the sixties romantic farces of Doris Day and Rock Hudson, with Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey adequately filling their shoes. She plays a magazine writer who makes a bet that she can lose a guy in ten days while he plays an ad exec who makes bet he can make someone fall in love with him in the same time period. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out where the plot is heading, but the leads are engaging and there are some laughs along the way. Kate is more like her mom (Goldie Hawn) than in previous films and McConaughey has a masculine charm that complements Hudson's blondeness. It's certainly not Oscar caliber, but it's entertaining nonetheless in its own breezy way.
Great fun
This truly is a romantic comedy, one that everyone could enjoy. The characters interact well together, which makes for a seemless story to unfold, one that is plausible and real. Buy or rent it, either way just watch it. Not just a good romantic comedy, but a good movie all around.
How A Romantic Comedy Falls Flat
The Premise: Kate Hudson works for a fashion magazine, and as research for her column she has agreed to hook a man and then drive him away in 10 days by making the common 'mistakes' that many women make in dating. Unbeknownst to her, the man she gets is Matthew McConaughey, an ad exec who has been challenged by his boss and competitors at work to make a woman fall in love with him in 10 days or less. See? One wants to wreck it at all costs, one wants to save it at all costs. The wackiness is supposed to ensue.
Why It Doesn't Work: This type of set-up forces two very amiable stars to behave like nitwits for the entire film. By the time they inevitably discover that each was deceiving the other, you haven't developed any sympathy for either character. You don't care if they get past it and end up together. If just one was deceiving the other, you'd have a place to make your emotional connection to what's happening, and it doesn't even necessarily preclude you from ending up liking the deceiver (especially if he or she is being deceptive for reasons beyond their control). Here, however, they're both being extraordinarly callous about the feelings of another human being, for pretty flimsy reasons. After awhile, rather than sucking you in, it just starts to piss you off.
McConaughey's a very likeable star, and I'm crazy about Hudson. I'm inclined to like any movie she makes. This one, though, just makes ya try too hard. It's flatter than a pancake.
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