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How to Lose a Guy... not an all-out winner
THE trouble with Hollywood these days is that it goes in for outlandish plots but does not have the substance (read screenplay) to flesh them out with credibility. The net result is a film which takes off well but flatters only to deceive. So it is with How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. When glib-talking, ambitious ad executive Ben Barrington (Matthew McConaughey) lays a bet with his colleagues that he can ensnare any woman in 10 days, he doesn’t know it but there’s an attractive fashion magazine columnist Andy Anderson (Kate Hudson) whose latest assignment is diametrically opposite to his wager –how to lose a guy in 10 days. But it is Ben’s female
colleagues, pitching for the same account, who work it out in such a way
that Ben decides to date Andy for his 10 days’ conquest. Matthew
Conaughey, who a few years ago was one of Hollywood’s most promising
stars (in A time to Kill) is slimmer and trimmer but as cocky and
exuberant as Kate Hudson (Goldie Hawn’s daughter). Now the two of them
are well matched. So are their close friends who provide a good deal of
the laughs in what has come to be known as male/female camaraderie. But
all eyes are on the wager. |
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Director Donald Petrie, who was more convincing in Miss Congeniality, is quite unable to sustain interest in the romance which later deteriorates into a slanging match. This happens much before the halfway mark. What’s even worse is that when Cupid shoots his arrow there is hardly any conviction. It is as physical as the slapstick gags, which means that the viewer has to wade through 10 days of this dubious humour to get to the punchline. The film could have done with more music though the rendition of Moon River is far from as enchanting as it was with Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Despite the usual glamour and glitz associated with most Hollywood productions these days it was a case of prolonging the agony. May be a five-day wager would have made a big difference. |
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