How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days is a 2003 romantic comedy film, directed by Donald Petrie, starring Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey. It is based on a short cartoon book of the same name by Michele Alexander and Jeannie Long.
Plot
Andie Anderson (Kate Hudson) is a writer who works for a magazine called Composure as the "How to..." woman. She is bored and wishes she could write more about important things, such as politics, economics, religion, poverty; stuff she cares about. She soon finds herself writing an article called "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days". The idea comes about when Andie's friend, Michelle (Kathryn Hahn), experiences a minor breakdown after yet another break-up. Using her friend as inspiration, Andie reveals how she will actually start dating a guy and drive him away but 'only using the classic mistakes women make'.
At the same time, advertising executive Benjamin Barry Mcdonalds is striving for a pitch to advertise diamonds and explains to his boss and co-workers how "a woman in lust wants chocolate, a woman in love wants diamonds." Questioning what Ben would know about love, Ben bets he could make any woman fall in love with him if he wanted to, and so the bet arises. If he can make any woman fall in love with him before the upcoming company ball, in just 10 days, he can be in charge of the advertising for the new diamond company.
Ben's rival co-workers, Judy Spears (Michael Michele) and Judy Green (Shalom Harlow), 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. Fortunately, that night Andie and Ben happen to be in the same place and as Judy and Judy refer to her as "the blond with the pretty smile", Ben thinks it is a done deal.
Neither Andie nor Ben reveal their true intentions. Andie works hard to make Ben break up with her in order to go about completion of her article, however, Ben continues to stick around in the hope of making her fall in love with him. Andie goes on to get Ben knocked out at a chick flick film, rapidly moves her stuff into his apartment, acts overly possessive and sensitive at all times, ruins boys poker night for him and his friends and takes him to a Celine Dion concert when he was under the assumption he was going to see a New York Knicks basketball game, which Andie had wanted.
Ben stays with her despite everything, and after coming very close to a break-up they attend couples counseling, led by Andie's friend Michelle. They agree, as a solution to their 'problems' they will go to see Ben's family in Staten Island for the weekend. While holidaying together, Ben and Andie begin to form a genuine bond; playing card games with the family, learning to ride Ben's motorcycle and upon arrival home Ben even refers to Andie as 'his girlfriend'.
Andie tries to explain to boss Lana (Bebe Neuwirth) that she cannot go ahead with writing and publishing this article as she has "really got to know this guy", but Lana remains insistent upon it. Around the same time, Andie and Ben go to the company ball together where Ben's boss, Phillip (Robert Klein) meets Andie and tells Ben that he "met her, she loves you, you win". Seeing Ben's good news, Spears and Green are instantly envious and set about to ruin it for their co-worker. They tell his close worker colleagues, Tony (Adam Goldberg) and Thayer (Thomas Lennon) Andie knew about the bet all along and was playing along in order for Ben to win. Almost instantly, Tony and Thayer rush to Andie's side and beg her to keep quiet, when they do not realize she is still blissfully unaware. Almost simultaneously, Ben finds out about Andie's true intentions as they are revealed to him by boss Lana - who is unaware of Ben's role in her How to Girl's article.
Upon finding out, Andie attempts to humiliate Ben by getting on stage and telling all he has prepared a "special treat" and is to sing a song. In an attempt to then leave, Ben reveals they have prepared a "duet" and instructs his friends to not let her leave the room. They go on to sing a poor version of You're So Vain, originally by Carly Simon described as "one of their personal favourites" which they alternatively sang as:
A: "Ben Barry you're so vain, you probably think this song is about you, don't you, don't you! You fooled me to win a bet, you should feel ashamed". B: "Look, You took me to a god damn Celine Dion concert, you made me miss the big game". A: "Oh, Smart Guy's a rhymer, well do we want everybody to know your love making is lame". B: "Maybe because you named my penis, you named my penis, you named my penis after a dame."
They go their separate ways before Ben is shown Andie's article and encouraged to read it. She explains in it how she 'lost the one man she ever fell for' and when he hears she quit her job at Composure and was on her way to Washington for an interview he chases her and stops her. Calling her bluff and saying that she is running away, they reveal their true feelings for each other and the film ends as Ben instructs the taxi driver to return Andie's belongings to her home and they kiss.
Cast
Production
Gwyneth Paltrow was originally going to star as Andie Anderson but later pulled out before pre-production began, and Kate Hudson replaced her.[citation needed]
Release
Critical response
How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days received mixed reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a score of 42% based on reviews from 146 critics, or an average score of 5/10.[2] Among Rotten Tomatoes' Top Critics, which consists of popular and notable critics from the top newspapers, websites, television and radio programs, gave the film a score of 35%, based on a sample of 34 reviews.[3] Metacritic gave the film an average score of 45% based on reviews from 31 critics.[4]
Box office
The film was released on February 7, 2003, and earned $23,774,850 in its first weekend. Its final gross is $105,813,373 in the U.S. and $71,558,068 overseas.[1]
Sequel
In April 2006, it was announced that Paramount wanted McConaughey and Hudson to re-team for a sequel tentatively titled How to Tell He's Not the One in 10 Days.[5]
References
External links
