The Ugly Truth

I expected a standard Chick Flick, but instead, I was treated to an R-rated ("R" for Raunch) romantic comedy that tickled the men, too. Australian director Robert Luketic ("Monster-in-Law") has squeezed a lot of entertainment into 97 minutes.

We start with Katherine Heigl ("Knocked Up" and "27 Dresses") typecast once again as an icy, control-freak blonde. This time she is the producer for a local Sacramento television show which features John Michael Higgins ("The Breakup" and "Best in Show") and Cheryl Hines ("Waitress" and "Henry Poole Is Here") as a married couple whose ratings are sinking fast.

Enter community channel phenomenon Gerard Butler ("Dear Frankie" and "P.S., I Love You") as a blunt-spoken self-appointed s/expert who voices The Ugly Truth about relationships and what men REALLY find appealing about women (which I can't repeat in this PG13-rated blog). Naturally the TV station hires him to boost those pesky ratings and our blonde (with a shockingly dirty mouth!) is furious.

The rest of the movie consists of Heigl finally meeting the perfect man of her dreams and, by following the advice of her new in-house expert, enticing the appealing sucker into a relationship. Neither of our lead characters are quite as rigidly stereotypical as we expect and eventually we come to like them both...and that's a GOOD thing.

Several scenes are waaaay over the top―vibrating panties, anyone? ―but the guys in the audience certainly enjoyed them.