How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (Widescreen Edition)

How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (Widescreen Edition)
by Donald Petrie

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DVD Reviews of How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (Widescreen Edition)

DVD Review: (3.5) A movie with flaws, but it improves toward the end.
Summary: 4 Stars

Meanwhile, Benjamin Barry (Matthew McConaughey) works in advertising, and is desperate to be the one appointed to handle a contract with a huge diamond company. While trying to persuade his boss that he's the right man for the job, the topic of selling diamonds is somehow made synonymous with Ben's ability to sell himself to any woman alive. His boss agrees that he can have the job if he can make a woman (picked by two of his co-workers) fall madly in love with him in the next ten days. He agrees. The co-workers pick a woman out of the crowd and, big surprise, it's Andie. The two begin to date, with Andie doing everything she possibly can to drive him mad, and Ben doing everything he can think of to win her heart. Predictably, they end up falling for each other, and much professional and internal conflict ensues.

As I said earlier, the first 2/3 of the film did little to win me over. Most of the characters seemed just too incredibly fake to care about, particularly Andie. The makers of the film took a big gamble, whether they know it or not. The power of romantic comedies comes from having the audience truly wanting the two protagonists to get together in the end. Here, Andie comes across as a cold, calculating snob for much of the first part of the movie, while Ben is a cocky, arrogant playboy. I just didn't feel like rooting for either of them.

It's not until the sequence where Ben takes Andie to Staten Island to meet his family that the two really begin to seem like caring, feeling beings. At that point the characters' emotions were much more genuine, and the story began to pick up. From there on I really liked the film, even though the very end was perhaps a little too contrived ... But the chemistry really does come through in the latter part of the film, and thus I raised my rating to a generous four stars.

The acting is fairly good all around, despite the fact that most of Andie's co-workers are rather stereotypical scatterbrains who live on emotional roller coasters and think the world is made better by a cup of coffee and new clothes. I'm not sure whether their characters were supposed to be genuine or satire, but either way it adds some comic value to the film. I particularly liked the scenes with Ben's family, as the interactions there seemed the most genuine, and the people there the most real (they're a bit odd at times, granted, but don't most families have their quirks?).

DVD features include director commentary, a "Mapping Out the Perfect Movie" sequence with cast and crew interviews that provide extra insight into the film, deleted scenes (most of which I'm glad were not included in the actual film), a "Mapping Out the Perfect Location" featurette, and a music video of the song "Somebody Like You." My parting advice: If you don't like romantic comedies to begin with, don't see this movie. It's [probably] not the one that will win you over to the genre. If you do like romantic comedies (or even if you just have a thing for Matthew McConaughey), it's worth seeing, though it isn't the best. I'd advise renting it first to decide if you really like it or not.

Description of How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (Widescreen Edition)