The Ugly Truth

'The Ugly Truth' is full of half-truths, untruths, and perversions of the truth. It boasts stereotypes and stereotypical attempts to avoid stereotypes. It follows formulas within formulas. Simply put, it is a movie that any discerning critic should dismiss with a scathing rebuke.

But, really, who cares?

It'll make you laugh; it'll leave you feeling all warm and fuzzy inside; it's full of gorgeous, funny people; and it'll reaffirm all those suppressed prejudices that you secretly hold so dear...

Sometimes a movie is just a movie — an unadulterated guilty pleasure.

Abby Richter (Katherine Heigl) is a smart, organised TV producer who treats life like a checklist. In a throwback from the 1950's, one of the few items on Abby's list that hasn't been ticked, is the Perfect Man. Yip, this intelligent 21st century woman (who we soon discover is something of a control freak) still believes in Mr Perfect. She even has a carefully-annotated checklist for him.

Clearly not Mr Perfect (ah, yes, that old romcom plot-twist) is Mike Chadway (Gerard Butler), who hosts a talk-show called The Ugly Truth. The truth he delivers to the world in a crass, brash and occasionally funny manner, is that men really are only interested in one thing. Of course, we know that this is just a façade — Mike is really a deeply sensitive and caring guy scarred by his past relationships.

Abby, who despises everything Mike stands for, is more than a little peeved when she gets lumped with Mike's show in the network's attempt to improve ratings. But when she tries to get the attention of her improbable neighbour (a surgeon who looks like he has just stepped out of a Calvin Klein commercial), she turns to Mike.

The two strike a deal: if Abby manages to hook up with Mr Perfect following Mike's advice, she'll play nice; if not, he'll quit.

Sometimes we all need a little mindless escapism. And that's the ugly truth.