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After dumbing down for Knocked Up, Katherine Heigl
returns for more screen punishment at the hands of crude
male jerks, giggling her way through The Ugly Truth while
displaying her exceptional talent for holding on to her
female dignity as the designated deformed hottie, by a thread.
Turning up once again as a neurotic, upwardly mobile and
oddly gorgeous but luckless in love television drone, Heigl
seems most challenged in this role, not with figuring out
men, but pretending that she's not capable of roping one
in.***
Directed by Aussie Robert Luketic (Legally Blonde)
and written by no less than three women (Nicole Eastman,
Karen McCullah Lutz, Kirsten Smith) The Ugly Truth stars
Katherine Heigl as Abby. She's a manless workaholic Sacramento
television news producer whose idea of cyber-date foreplay,
is doing a background check on the guy and presenting him
with a checklist of talking points over dinner.***
When her show's ratings plummet, Abby's boss informs
her that the family oriented content will have to be spiced
up more than a little by adding Mike (Gerard Butler) to
the schedule. Much to her dismay, not only is Mike a vulgar
womanizing 'manwhore' and proud, but his insanely popular
segment The Ugly Truth, thrives on sexually dissing and
grossing out the more prim segments of the female audience.***
Stuck with an offer she can't refuse, Abby holds her
nose while establishing tentative peaceful coexistence on
the set with the macho menace. But Mike is soon spying on
her love life, such as it may be, and ends up playing stud
matchmaker by offering advice on how to nab that hunk neighbor
with a medical degree (Eric Winter) that she's had her eye
on. Staking out the scenes of premeditated seduction like
roving reporters on location, the mutually repelled pair
exchange notes via walkie talkies on the art of flaunting
yourself like a sexual tornado, and shopping for slutwear.
There's also a really unfunny vibrator lined underwear wardrobe
malfunction vignette over a corporate dinner.***
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