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How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
A columnist for a women's magazine has a very unusual assignment and a quick deadline: get a guy to fall in love with her, and then drive him away by making all the classic dating mistakes women...  View more >

Starring Kate Hudson, Matthew McConaughey, Kathryn Hahn...  View more >

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Reviews Summary


Please Note: Reader Reviews are submitted by the readers of The BigScreen Cinema Guide and represent their own personal opinions regarding this movie, and do not represent the views of The BigScreen Cinema Guide, or any of its associated entities.

Feb 6, 2003
Women repeat the phrase `How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days' over and over again as if it's a brilliant concept in the film of the same name directed by Donald Petrie.

Screenwriters Kristen Buckley, Brian Regan, and Burr Steers' unimaginative choice for the title is indicative of their collective writing ability, but one exits the theater wishing they had more appropriately dubbed this comedic disaster `How to Lose an Audience in 10 Minutes.'

The story is expectedly built on clichés, not a criticism as it is inherent to the subject matter and a truth that applies to many films in this genre, but the writers rarely discover creative ways to turn hackneyed ideas into humorous situations. The dialogue often lacks ingenuity, the scenarios are much too familiar, and the script is nearly void of an honesty that makes people want to believe in predictably trite romantic comedies.

Headlines that lure women to purchase fashion and beauty magazines fall off the covers and slide across the screen as morning activity ensues at Composure, the fastest growing women's magazine in the country. Andie Anderson (Kate Hudson) finishes a political masterpiece at her computer, and her colleague commends the article but reminds Anderson that she works for a publication that prefers articles about fitness, cosmetic surgery, and shoes. The clientele just isn't interested in poverty, religion or the environment. Poor Anderson. Straight out of Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism with a column of her own and a schedule and salary that affords her plenty of free time both during the day and at night, a 5th Avenue apartment in Manhattan, and extra cash to spend on Knicks playoff tickets.

Perhaps taking a more typical beginning journalism job covering the crime beat and town meeting after town meeting would have satisfied her desire to write about things that matter. The staff meeting at Composure provides a bit of enjoyable light humor and a peek into an exaggerated display of new-age office tactics, but introducing Anderson in this context with her firm agenda in such a flimsy atmosphere is awkward and unbelievable.

Single-life lover Benjamin Barry (Matthew McConaughey), how cute--two A's for Andie and two B's for Ben, accepts a bet offered by his boss and associates at the advertising agency, which pairs him with Anderson. The couple plunges into a romantic relationship, and both characters conceal their real objective after agreeing that all is fair in love and war. The conversation that takes Anderson and Barry out of the bar and into the restaurant where they feast on lobster and get to know one another is the first glimpse of a witty and refreshing exchange; enjoy these fleeting moments as they are the exceptions rather than the rule.

Laughable moments do return, however, in full force during late-middle scenes in this nearly two hour film. The first dinner date at Barry's apartment, the boys' night poker scene, and the couple's therapy session all rescue the drowning viewer from the depths of ennui.

But even these rare moments cannot save How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. Nevertheless, the film does find some redemption in its two lead actors. Individually, Hudson and McConaughey add spark to dull words and circumstances. Together they are dynamite, and one laments the fact that they were not endowed with a script that matches their talent. Hopefully they will reunite at another time--after both actors prove themselves in other roles that better display their abilities. In this film, though, both performances are expressive, intelligent, and warrant acclaim for adding something laudatory to a film that should have been canned and hidden away forever out of public sight or left on the cutting room floor.

One does not learn anything from the `how to girl' in this film except that love ferns die just like relationships if they are not properly nurtured. Diamond companies do not pay advertising companies great sums of money to come up with a slogan like `Frost Yourself'; one can only hope this was a failed parody attempt. Men do not come back carrying flowers and missing the smell of perfume on pillows to women who are prone to dating faux pas. No man should tolerate ten days of Andie's erratic behavior, and no woman should want a sports-fanatic boyfriend who skips game seven of his team's playoff series to go to a Celine Dion concert.

Andie is annoying but occasionally endearing and the gestures by Barry are valiant, but none if it is real. Comedy doesn't need to be steeped in reality, but How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days suggests that something needs to resonate with the audience or all is truly lost.
Feb 11, 2003
\"How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days,\" is another lousy romantic comedy, the third in the last month.

The film centers on a bet on whatever a relationship would last 10 days. Kate Hudson plays a feature writer who writes a article on relationship that last 10 days. Matthew McConaughey plays her love intrest.

The two are fun to watch on the big screen. but they should be doing something else, because the film has all the emotions of watching a reality Television show. (I don\'t watch it,I don\'t even watch \"American Idol.\") I hope Hudson doesn\'t get bod down in bad comedies like her mother Goldie Hawn. She along with McConaughey derserves better.

A better title to the film is \"How to Lose an Audience in 10 Minutes.\"
Feb 23, 2003
I enjoyed the movie! I\'d go see it again.
Feb 23, 2003
Very amusing and uplifting. You\'ll leave the theater feeling very upbeat.
Feb 24, 2003
Mar 1, 2003
A definite chick flick, but worth the rental. R
Mar 8, 2003
Girls, this is a fun movie to see with your girlfriends. Kind of predictable, but good for a laugh or two after a stressful work week!
Oct 20, 2003
Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey are setup to be a couple that you want to see succeed, but watching them attempt it in this movie is an exercise in patience.

Ms. Hudson is out of her league in this film, McConaughey clearly has the upper hand when it comes to playing a charming lead. Whereas Jennifer Lopez matched him well in The Wedding Planner, Kate Hudson just didn't exude the same level of likability and allure to provide a good match.

My wife was voting for turning this movie off about a half hour into it, but I'm more patient with movies, always hoping that things will improve once the foundation is set and the romancing begins. She probably had the better idea, since the movie picked up only slightly, and never achieved a truly satisfactory result.

On a side note, the product placements were quite blatant in the film. Remember in Wayne's World, when Wayne mugs for the camera with a Pizza Hut box? I kept expecting a character to do that with an Apple computer, a Coca-Cola, or Budweiser. Most beer drinkers I know would not switch between a Bud and a Bud Light (for example) during the normal course of a week's time.

The premise of focusing on the things that women do to turn guys away in relationships is a good one, and one can only hope that someone else will give it another shot once this one has been forgotten.

This just barely gets the "Wait for Rental" rating, simply because it wasn't as bad as "Stay Away!" would suggest. I'll take a repeat of "You've Got Mail" before another viewing of this film any time.

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