Average Rating: 
Rating:  - "I miss you Benny-Boo-Boo-Boo!"
"How to Lose A Guy in Ten Days" starts off awkwardly, unfolds dully, suddenly gets better, and then loses steam again. This is too bad, because for a while in the middle I was starting to enjoy this goofy movie. Ultimately, though, it was as my mother would say "Sha-poopy." The likable Kate Hudson stars as Andie Anderson, a columist for a "Vogue"-type magazine who longs to write about important issues like the refugee plight in "Takijstan". Instead, she is saddled with an assigment to drive a man away in ten days by comitting all the supposedly classic mistakes woman make in relationships. You know, calling a guy fifty million times a day, telling him you love him after knowing him less than a week, etc. Matthew McConaughey is a slick ad exec named Ben who attempts to prove he can handle a big account targeted toward women by making a random woman fall in love with him, also in ten days (This part of the plot is pretty shaky, to tell you the truth). Of the millions of people in New York, guess which two hook up in a crowded bar? Of course, none of the nutty things Andie does to Ben send him packing, so her ideas gradually become more and more outrageous. This part of the movie actually borders on being funny, as Andie humilates Ben in wilder and wilder ways; redecorating his apartment, getting him beat up, and (horrors!) dragging him to see Celine Dion. There is also a sweet scene involving Ben's parents and a rather colorful card game, but the final fifteen minutes or so return to the strained feeling of the beginning before we finally get to the end we all knew was coming. I feel this is really more of a 2 1/2 star film, but I rounded it down because I didn't want to give it 3. If you need a point of reference, "How to Lose A Guy" is worse than "Miss Congeniality" but better than "The Wedding Planner". But then again, what isn't.
GRADE: C+ (By the way, for those who care, Kate TROUNCES "Maid in Manhattan"'s J.Lo in the Looking-Stunning-While-Wearing-A-Designer-Dress Department. Go Kate!)
Rating: - Ten Ways to Smile
Donald Petrie, the director of "How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days" knows his way around what I call the New Romantic Comedy, as he also directed Sandra Bullock last year in the irresistible "Miss Congeniality."
In "How To" he directs, the destined to take over the mantle of Clark Gable, Matthew McConaughey and the luminous Kate Hudson who play two professional people who try everything possible NOT to fall in love. The machinations of the plot take a back seat, though to the very real and palpable romantic combustion that his stars ignite on screen. And like their recent predecessors, Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan or Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant for example, Hudson and McConaughey are a believable and natural couple: we can actually picture them in bed together. Which, if this type of film is going to work is absolutely necessary, as real chemistry between stars is a very rare thing. McConaughey didn't have it with Jennifer Lopez in "The Wedding Planner" but Ralph Fiennes (!) did in "Maid in Manhattan." Go figure.
In a comedy, it is the supporting actors and the characters they play who add texture and substance to the proceedings. Think Rosie O'Donnell in "Sleepless in Seattle" or Rhys Ifans in "Notting Hill." These characters, besides stealing most scenes that they are in, also give the film a context in which the main characters live. Unfortunately, only a couple of the supporting players in "How To" really pop. And this hurts this film.
"How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" proves once again that they can "make movies like they used to" as long as they populate them with stars as winning and talented as Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey.
Rating: - Kate Hudson's A Keeper in 'How to Lose A Guy...'
Kate Hudson is great in the new romantic comedy "How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days." She plays Andie, a magazine columnist who gets assigned to write a story about the things women do sometimes that tend to drive men away. The main catch is...she only has ten days to scare the guy out of a relationship. On a search for a likeable guy whom she can use to drastically make the mistakes that will make him run towards the door, she meets Ben (Matthew McConaughey). Coincidentally, Ben has just made a bet that he can make any woman fall in love with him, in a short period of time. As fate has it, Ben and Andie meet...so let the games begin. While he's set on being the perfect guy he can be, she's set on driving him crazy with small but sometimes drastic annoyances that may do the trick. When they get personal, they find it's not work jeopardizing the true love that's hidden behind false intentions. And as the romantic comedy genre has it, one can only expect what will happen between the two, who claim to be doomed for a break-up...or not. The film is very funny and very likeable. Hudson has proved that she can be the new queen of romantic comedies, and this film will make her one. The two lead stars have great chemistry, and the overall feminine cover has a fun approach and should prove to be hilarious for anyone.
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