CINEMA: The Ugly Truth

A few weeks back I was bemoaning the state of the modern romcom as now being a sad shadow of its former self.  The Ugly Truth shows only too plainly just how bad things have become.

Here, Katherine Heigl is the high-powered yet single woman who is desperate to find a mate. She produces a morning TV show and is extremely put out when, in order to boost ratings, the TV station hires a totally uncharismatic and unreconstructed shock jock (Gerard Butler) to front a section on the show titled The Ugly Truth.

Basically, the ugly truth is that men are selfish and mean minded, and only like girls with big breasts – or so he professes, so why she’d want to take dating tips from him is anyone’s guess. But she does and is soon learning the “secrets” of seduction from him, including donning a pair of vibrating panties and wearing them in public.

This is lowest common denominator stuff, going for the cheapest laughs and lacking any depth, wit, or real emotion. That she will fall for him is taken as read from the outset so you know the ending from the beginning meaning there’s little here to keep you guessing.

In fact, there’s little here to keep an audience interested either in a film that’s ugly by name and rather ugly by nature.

Dee Pilgrim