Through the years, Hollywood has occasionally offered to reveal truths to us in the form of romantic comedy. There was the "Awful" truth hashed out by Cary Grant and Irene Dunn in the '30s, for instance; more recently, Hal Hartley charmed arthouse audiences with an "Unbelievable" one.
Now we get "The Ugly Truth," a title whose echoes of classic romances might be deemed accidental overreaching if not for the fact that its antagonism-heavy dialogue — sounding as if the scribes behind "The Man Show" were trying to remake "Adam's Rib" — was so clearly, and so blandly, derivative of its betters.
 Courtesy photo: Sony Pictures
For a larger, high resolution image, click HERE |
This is a chemistry-free rom-com that barely tries to hide the staleness of its alleged insights into the differences between men and women.
Unkind in its treatment of both sexes, "Truth" gives us a heroine, Abby (Katherine Heigl, as pretty as ever but no more likable than she was in "Knocked Up") so clueless about real-world love that she uses a mental checklist for prospective mates. When she meets a man online, her assistant prints out his vitals and runs a background check. Her foil Mike (Gerard Butler, whose lump-of-coal face and studied unrefinement don't add up to masculine charm) hosts a call-in TV show dispensing relationship advice in the "shut your mouth and buy a push-up bra" vein.
Abby's boss hires Mike to spice up a morning news show Abby produces for Sacramento, Calif., television. Before long, his loutish onscreen antics have wrecked the veneer of dull professionalism Abby takes pride in but boosted the show out of the ratings basement. She's so desperate to get rid of her new star she takes him up on a wager in which he'll coach her, Cyrano-style, in her attempts to win the love of the cardboard-cutout Prince Charming next door.
The ensuing high jinks flail broadly about, relying on double entendres and supposedly outrageous gags (like a public humiliation involving a battery-operated device intended for private use) whose power to incite shocked laughter has been drained by years of overuse. You almost expect to hear someone beg, "I'll have what she's having."
But Abby might be the only satisfied customer here, as "Truth" fails to work any kind of convincing love story into its reheated humor. When it's time for the star to wake up and ditch Prince Charming in favor of the troll beneath the bridge, even the biggest saps in the theater might wonder why she would bother: The two pretty people are perfect for each other, and the ugly brute was much happier on his own.
