Themes: Schemes and Ruses, Date from Hell, Opposites Attract
Main Cast: Kate Hudson, Matthew McConaughey, Adam Goldberg, Michael Michele, Shalom Harlow
Release Year: 2003
Country: US
Run Time: 116 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
Two New Yorkers fight the battle of the sexes to a standstill (without entirely realizing it) in this romantic comedy. Andie (Kate Hudson) is a young journalist who longs to cover political stories, but in the meantime she finds herself writing for a women's magazine called Composure, where her editor Lana Jong (Bebe Neuwirth) has her writing a fluffy advice column. After hearing of the latest dating laments of her relationship-challenged friend Michelle (Kathryn Hahn), Andie sells Lana on the idea of writing a piece on the things women do to alienate the men they love, which she'll demonstrate by winning and then driving away a man in a mere ten days. Meanwhile, Ben (Matthew McConaughey) is an advertising man who wants to land a prestige diamond account at his firm. Ben is competing with his pals, Spears (Michael Michele) and Green (Shalom Harlow), for the assignment, so Ben tells his boss Phillip Warren (Robert Klein) that he's the man for the job because he understands the fair sex so well he can make any woman fall for him in less than two weeks. As fate would have it, Andie and Ben end up choosing one another for their mutual assignments, with neither knowing about each other's secret agenda as Ben strives to hold on to Andie while she does everything in her power to annoy him. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days was loosely based on the self-help book of the same name (subtitled The Universal Don't of Dating) written by Michele Alexander and Jeannie Long. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, based on a self-help book parody by Michele Alexander and Jeannie Long (which includes stick figure cartoons illustrating the mistakes women make), is a doggedly formulaic romantic comedy, buoyed by a few genuinely amusing scenes and the potent charisma of its two stars. Kate Hudson has a genuine comedic gift, somehow locating a real live person amid the crass conventions of her role, while Matthew McConaughey brings his roguish charm to full bear. As Andie (Hudson) thinks of new (and not particularly inventive) ways of tormenting Ben (McConaughey), her victim, director Donald Petrie (Miss Congeniality) keeps things relatively light and breezy, letting the actors do splendid work. The scene in which Andie comes up with a humiliating "pet name" for Ben's manhood is particularly well played. Kathryn Hahn and Annie Parisse are also very good as Andie's co-workers, named after the book's authors. Despite their efforts, and solid work from Adam Goldberg and Thomas Lennon as Ben's co-workers, the film isn't very convincing in portraying these peoples' work lives, which are pivotal to the fairly ludicrous plot that the filmmakers (including Burr Steers, the writer-director of Igby Goes Down, who gets a screenwriting credit here) have wrapped around the book's goofy relationship tips. There's also some unnecessary and embarrassing scatological humor (an incontinent dog and a flatulent uncle) thrown in. But the film is serviceable entertainment, just funny and romantic enough. Then, toward the end, it goes through the predictable motions, presumably set in stone for every Hollywood romantic comedy from the 1980s on, to wrap things up in the accustomed manner, befitting stick figures more than fully drawn characters. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
James C. Feng - Art Director, Brandy Gordon - Art Director, Elizabeth Joan Hooper - Associate Producer, Robin Guthrie Prybil - Associate Producer, Gail Levin - Casting, Andrew S. Brown - Casting, Karen Patch - Costume Designer, Ellen H. Schwartz - First Assistant Director, Donald Petrie - Director, Debra Neil-Fisher - Editor, Richard Vane - Executive Producer, David Newman - Composer (Music Score), Dana Millman-Dufine - Musical Direction/Supervision, Therese DePrez - Production Designer, John Bailey - Cinematographer, Christine Peters - Producer, Robert Evans - Producer, Lynda Obst - Producer, Jaro Dick - Set Designer, Evan Webber - Set Designer, Nicholas Evans - Set Designer, Tod A. Maitland - Sound/Sound Designer, Douglas Ganton - Sound/Sound Designer, Burr Steers - Screenwriter, Kristen Buckley - Screenwriter, Brian Regan - Screenwriter, Jack Gill - Additional Cinematography, Mark Stoeckinger - Supervising Sound Editor, Frank T. Smathers - Supervising Sound Editor, Michele Alexander - Book Author, Jeannie Long - Book Author
Andie Anderson (Kate Hudson) is a journalist, who works for a magazine called Composure as the "How to..." woman. She's bored and wishes she could write more about important things, such as politics, economics, religion, poverty, and so on. She soon finds herself writing an article called "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days." Andie tells her boss that, to write more freely and creatively, she'll date a man and do all the wrong things women tend to do in relationships, and record her experiences for the article.
At the same time, advertising executive Benjamin Barry (Matthew McConaughey) tells his boss that he can make any woman fall in love with him in just ten days. To prove it, he'll find a woman and bring her to the upcoming company ball as his date. If he succeeds, he gets to be in charge of the advertising for the new diamond company account otherwise headed by his boss.
Ben's rival co-workers, Judy and Judy, who were at Composure Magazine earlier and are aware of Andie's new assignment, conspire to have Andie and Ben meet that night and start their quests. Neither Andie nor Ben reveal their true intentions. Andie puts Ben through various experiences to make him quickly break up with her, but Ben sticks around in order to make her fall in love with him. Andie acts in a possessive way, interferes with Ben's Poker night, and takes him to a Celine Dion concert instead of a New York Knicks basketball game. Ben stays with her despite everything and both reveal their true motives at the end, but their initial desires have changed.
Though given mixed reviews by critics, the movie earned over $20 million in its first weekend. Its final gross totaled over $100 million in the U.S. and another $71 million overseas. The movie was also a success on video and DVD in its July 2003 release.
