Abby Ritcher (Katherine Heigl, Knocked Up) is the producer of a fairly successful morning news TV programme, but when ratings begin to drop, and her job gets threatened, she is forced to put up with the overly chauvinistic, shock-jock TV presenter, Mike Chadway (Gerard Butler, P.S. I Love You) getting a regular slot on the show in order to sex-it-up and improve the ratings.
The Ugly Truth is an opposites attract story in every sense of the word, as Abby’s fiercely controlled GMTV style morning programme is nothing like Mike’s original play it by ear, late-night, call-in show (titled The Ugly Truth) where he berates the guests and doses out advice which he assures them will get them laid. She is a totally neurotic control freak that believes in true love and is often disappointed as none of her dates ever live up to her fantasies (or fulfill the necessary criteria on her dating checklist), whilst he is a much more laid back social realist that has attempted to turn dating into a formula, and believes that he knows exactly how to get any pair into bed together as he knows exactly what all men and women want from the opposite sex; a conclusion he reached after several broken relationships.
After the mismatched pair are thrown together by force, a battle of wills ensues as Abby is infuriated by the way that Mike is degrading her show, and Mike loves his illustrious new job and the praise he’s getting for upping the doomed shows ratings. The battle reaches a head when Abby phones a man she’s interested in dating in front of Mike, and he makes a wager that if she follows his instructions exactly, this potential boyfriend will fall head over heels for her, and if he doesn’t, Mike agrees to quit the show.
It’d be no spoiler to say that what follows is a series of events showing the main characters growing closer, as they try to get Abby into a relationship with her attractive neighbour/doctor, and Abby doing things that she wouldn’t have dared try before as she considers them degrading, all whilst Mike slowly begins to develop a major crush on her and spends the majority of the film pining and wishing that he was the attractive neighbour/doctor, and hoping that Abby will realize that he is the man for her.
In terms of story, there isn’t a single thing that’s fresh or original about The Ugly Truth, as it follows a tired old formula and set story structure that has become so easy to predict it can almost be recited word for word before the first viewing. Where it attempts to stand out is with the character of Mike, being a ‘shock-jock’ TV presenter and taking the genre into levels of crudeness that it usually avoids.
Realistically speaking, Mike’s TV show would be extremely tame in modern terms, as there are many presenters and shows out there which are much more crude, vulgar, and macho than The Ugly Truth (Howard Stern for one, and even Friday Night with Jonathan Ross was often more racy), but creating a character as boorish as Howard Stern would probably have alienated the majority of female viewers, whereas the diluted Mike Chadway is infinitely more likeable (easier for the girls to fancy, and someone the lads can relate to and have a laugh with), and ultimately providing an abundance of jokes that are quite crude but just the right side of tasteless; making the film extremely enjoyable for the ladies, and slightly easier for the male viewers to stomach.
There’s plenty of chemistry between Gerard Butler and Katherine Heigl, as they both play off each other extremely well and seem to get honestly lost in what the other is saying/doing. Gerard Butler is really the star of this movie as it’s from him that almost all of the jokes (no matter how predictable they may be) originate, and it’s only through the considerable amount of charisma resonating from him that the audience grow to like the character and could ever believe that Heigl’s Abby could ever fall for him. Emotionally there isn’t too much scope for observing Butler’s talents, but in the few scenes that he does need to appear hurt he does so with a charming innocence which is both realistic and endearing.
Likewise for Katherine Heigl there is little scope for emotional acting (unlike her performance in Knocked Up) as her character is always in one of two modes; the often irritated controlling television producer, or the focus of fairly witless and predictable slapstick comedy. Nevertheless she is exactly what the genre calls for, a nice looking and fun feeling actress that can deliver a decent showing and not appear too threatening to the film’s predominantly female audience.
All in all The Ugly Truth is what it is; the latest in a long line of romantic comedies that tell exactly the same story with very little deviation or originality, often even using the same jokes that have been used at least a dozen times before. Having said that, it is still an extremely popular genre, and The Ugly Truth is a film that will undoubtedly appeal to legions of female viewers that love a good romance.
True, the story is tired and every scene is totally predictable, but it’s got a solid cast and two marketable headliners that are always fun, and play well enough together to seem believable as a real bickering couple. It’ll never be remembered as a groundbreaker, and probably forgotten in a few years, or even months, but for now the ugly truth is that this is a film which is pretty funny, sure to please almost any woman that watches, and crude enough to make it more enjoyable for men than most other films in the genre.
Picture:
The Ugly Truth is anything but ugly on Blu-ray, as its 1080p transfer is of a superb standard; colours are extremely rich and while they have a slightly warm tint (especially during interior shots) they are always stable and have near perfect contrast which brings not only the more vibrant and colourful scenes to life, but also enhances the softer shots.
Black levels are incredibly good, and skin colour is consistently apt, being a hair away from perfect even with the slightly warm tone of the film. The level of detail is always exceptionally high (especially for a film that doesn’t really rely on impressive visuals), with detail on inanimate background objects as well as facial features (Butler’s subtle is of particular note) jumping out of the screen.
There are no compression artifacts or visible print errors, and only a subtly real level of grain evident, which all makes for a stunningly brilliant picture, showcasing a film that is just above average and not really deserving in terms of quality.
Audio:
The DTS HD MA 5.1 soundtrack for The Ugly Truth is another surprisingly good mix; it’s obviously a dialogue heavy movie, but the voice levels are perfect, as they are never too soft or too harsh, and never overshadowed by ambient noise or the films poppy soundtrack.
The ambient noise isn’t overbearing, but is present in many scenes, such as at a restaurant, at a baseball park (where there is an abundance of crowd noise which is so encompassing that it feels as if you are there), in the office, and at a club where the little used LFE comes into play and excellently enhances the dance music being played, having a solid low-end but, as with the ambience, never overpowers the dialogue.
A solid soundtrack that won’t blow anyone away, but will impress true audiophiles with its sheer clarity of sound, and consistently accurate levelling, which creates a perfectly natural and engaging soundfield that is perfect for the film.
Extras:
Bonus features on the disc include Movie IQ, deleted and extended scenes (which can be easily overlooked as they were rightfully cut), alternate endings (which are surprisingly amusing and worth watching), a gag reel (the usual clips of the cast and crew laughing when they forget their lines), audio commentary on selected scenes (odd that this doesn’t cover the whole film, but with how dull and pointless this track is it wouldn’t have been worth the extra length, and clearly suffered from a lack of charisma which Gerard Butler and Katherine Heigl could have easily added), and two featurettes.
The first featurette, entitled The Truth is Ugly: Capturing the Male & Female Point of View, is an interesting and funny 13 minute short where, inbetween clips of the movie, the cast and crew discuss the ongoing war between the sexes and their views on it, while the second is a 16 minute feature that shows how the cast and crew attempt to cope with laughter on set and the traits that make their characters funny.
The special features aren’t really worth the time and effort that they took to load onto the disc, let alone make, as (aside from the alternate endings) they are all fairly dull, easy to forget, and, for the most part, wouldn’t even appeal to die-hard fans of the film. They read well on the back of the case, but overall these features are anything but special.
The Bottom Line:
The conclusion to this review was probably about as predictable as the film itself; The Ugly Truth is, and was always going to be, just another romantic comedy that will be top of the girls ‘to watch’ and ‘favourite movie ever’ list this month, but then discarded as easily as a used tampon when the next, so called, ‘fresh’ rom-com comes along.
It’s a film that could be predicated with 100% accuracy by a ten year old, and contains the same slapstick comedy that we’ve been staring at for years, yet despite that, there’s no denying that The Ugly Truth is a funny film; Gerard Butler and Katherine Heigl have brilliant chemistry together, both oozing charisma and being funny and attractive enough to keep their, opposite sex, audiences interested until the end.
There’s plenty of laughs and a few good one-liners that are sure to make even the most miserable viewer crack a smile, it’s crude enough to entertain the male viewers as well as female, and picture and audio quality are both top notch, with the discs main let down being the lack of interesting special features. But if you’re a fan of romantic comedies then The Ugly Truth won’t disappoint, even if you’re not too keen it’ll probably give you a guilty smile or two, and the sheer quality of this disc means that Blu-ray is definitely the way to go; a must buy for rom-com fans, and an easy film to rent, or a good date night movie, for anyone else.
