When The Ugly Truth opens in the greater Washington DC area today expect some water cooler talk in the office on Monday morning. Katherine Heigl best known for her role as Izzie Stevens on ABC's Grey's Anatomy stars as Abby Richter, a Sacramento television producer who realizes that the same skills that have made her "an award winning producer" are not as valuable when it comes to her love life.
In one cringe-inducing scene, Abby meets a blind date played by Entourage's Kevin Connolly for dinner bearing a print out of his on-line bio complete with background check. If that's not enough to send him running for the nearest exit (Kevin Connolly orders a stiff drink instead) she presents him with a list of talking points that all but guarantee his inevitable retreat.
While it's difficult to suspend belief that anyone as beautiful as Abby Richter/ Katherine Heigl struggles to find romance, the thread of authenticity is that in putting her career at the top of her to-do list, Abby hasn't cultivated much of a social life, something that a lot of women in DC can relate to.
In a ratings free-fall, Abby's station manager hires Mike Chadway, played by Gerard Butlar, a boorish, possibly misogynistic host of a cable access show, The Ugly Truth. Mike's often caustic assessment of women in relationships is a ratings bonanza for the stale talk show hosted by married couple Georgia and Larry played by Cheryl Hines and John Michael Higgens. Though she finds him repugnant (right before they fall madly in love), Abby enlists Mike's help to ensnare the affections of her good looking neighbor, Colin (Eric Winter).
Katherine Heigl's 2007 Emmy win for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series is proof that she has talent to go with her looks. In The Ugly Truth she deftly maneuvers a somewhat stiff script and is in turns laugh-out-loud funny, embarrassing and even vulnerable. Still, there is a chilliness about Heigl that keeps her just out of reach. Gerard Butler could generate heat with a bowling ball but even with Mike Chadway's considerable swagger, his connection to Heigl seems tenuous.
Though critics have summarily dismissed the film as a decidedly unfunny romantic comedy, there is more to the movie than that. Uneven in spots, the movie works best when the humor is cruel. For single women making their way through the ever-narrowing dating pool in the DC area, the answer to the question Is my butt too big? unfortunately is yes. In Abby's quest to find a wine drinking, museum going, cat-loving man to sweep her off her size 6 Jimmy Choos, she is far more likely to find him covered in Cheeto dust, surfing the sofa during a Halo 3 marathon.
That it may be an indictment of how men look how men and women look at each other doesn't distill the nature of truth.
And sometimes the truth hurts.
See the movie? Like it? eMail strbux@gmail.com with your review.
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