The Ugly Truth
| The Ugly Truth | |
|---|---|
Sony Pictures Releasing | |
Release date |
|
Running time | 96 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $38 million[1] |
| Box office | $205.3 million[1] |
The Ugly Truth is a 2009 American
Plot
Abby Richter is a morning show TV producer in Sacramento, California. Abby firmly believes in true love and is a big supporter of complex self-help books such as Chicken Soup for the Soul and Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus. Coming home from a disastrous date, she happens to see a segment of a local television show, The Ugly Truth, featuring Mike Chadway, whose cynicism about relationships prompts Abby to call in to argue with him on-air. The next day, she discovers the TV station is threatening to cancel her show because of its poor ratings. The station owner has hired Mike to do a segment on her show.
At first, the two have a rocky relationship; Abby thinks Mike is crass and disgusting while Mike finds her to be naive and a control freak. Nevertheless, when she meets the man of her dreams, a doctor named Colin living next door to her, Mike convinces her that by following his advice she will improve her chances with Colin. Abby is skeptical, but they make a deal: If Mike's management of her courtship results in her landing Colin, proving his theories on relationships, she will work happily and peacefully with him, but if Mike fails, he agrees to leave her show.[2]
Mike succeeds in improving the show's ratings, brings married co-anchors Georgia and Larry closer and successfully instructs Abby to be exactly what Colin would want through a number of pointers including: always laugh at his jokes and say he is amazing in bed. Mike is invited to appear on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and is offered a job at another network. Abby is forced to cancel a romantic weekend with Colin, during which they had planned to finally sleep together, and instead fly to Los Angeles to persuade Mike to stay with her show.
They drink and dance and Mike admits he does not want to move because he wants to stay in Sacramento near his sister and nephew. In the hotel elevator, they passionately kiss, but go to their separate rooms. Mike, dealing with the intensity of his feelings for Abby, calls on her room only to find Colin has shown up to surprise her. Mike leaves. Abby is upset and soon realizes Colin only likes the woman she has been pretending to be, not the real her. She breaks up with him.
Mike quits and takes a job with a rival TV station in Sacramento, and ends up doing a broadcast at the same
Cast
- Katherine Heigl as Abigail "Abby" Richter, a romantically challenged morning show producer.[2]
- Gerard Butler as Michael "Mike" Chadway, her male chauvinist correspondent.
- Eric Winter as Colin Anderson, an orthopedic surgeon who lives across from Abby. In the alternate ending, he was in a relationship with Joy.
- Nick Searcy as Stuart, Abby and Mike's Boss
- Cheryl Hines as Georgia Bordeney, co-anchor of the morning show, married to Larry.[2]
- John Michael Higgins as Larry Freeman, co-anchor of the morning show, married to Georgia.
- Bree Turner as Joy Haim, assistant and friend to Abby who is also love starved and lives vicariously through Abby. In the alternate ending she is shown to be in a relationship with Colin.
- Kevin Connolly as Jim Ryan, a blind date.
- Bonnie Somerville as Elizabeth Chadway, Mike's sister.
- Yvette Nicole Brown as Dori Coleman.
- Blake Robbins as KPQU Big Wig.
- Allen Maldonado as Duane.
- Craig Ferguson as himself.
Production
The film was made by the producers of Legally Blonde[2] and written by Nicole Eastman, Karen McCullah, and Kirsten Smith.[3] Eastman wrote the original script, which then stayed in development for about a decade before McMullah and Smith performed a rewrite.[4][5]
The Mike Chadway character is allegedly based on and inspired by Adam Carolla.
Filming locations
The film was, for the most part, filmed on location in California, including
Release
Box office
The film opened to third place at the box office—behind Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (in its second weekend) and the newly released G-Force—with $27,605,576 and the highest per-screen average in the top 10. As of July 2, 2018, the film has grossed $88.9 million at the North American domestic box office and $116.3 million internationally for a worldwide total of $205.2 million, becoming Katherine Heigl's second-best grossing film behind Knocked Up.[8]
In Great Britain and Ireland, the film topped the box office and took in £1.9 million in its opening weekend, fighting off competition from G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, which entered at number two with £1.7 million.[citation needed]
Critical reception
The review-aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 14% based on 176 reviews, and a weighted average of 3.80/10. The website's consensus reads, "Despite the best efforts of Heigl and Butler, The Ugly Truth suffers from a weak script that relies on romantic comedy formula, with little charm or comedic payoff."[9] Moviegoers, unlike many critics, thought much higher of the film. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.[10]
Ruth McCann of The Washington Post called the film "indulgently glossy, refreshingly snarky and legitimately sexy".[16] Kara Nesvig of the Star Tribune said "the dialogue is snappy and sexy, Heigl and Butler spar with zingy chemistry, and though the ending is as predictable as you'd assume, it's a sexy sort of popcorn flick". Nesvig praises Heigl saying the film "adds up to more than the sum of its clichés".[17]
Home media
The Ugly Truth was released on DVD and Blu-ray on November 10, 2009.
References
- ^ a b "The Ugly Truth". Box Office Mojo. Amazon.com. Archived from the original on 2010-02-18. Retrieved 2009-10-31.
- ^ a b c d Tatiana Siegel (2008-03-17). "Cheryl Hines learns 'The Ugly Truth'". Variety. Retrieved 2008-08-15.
- ^ http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090722/REVIEWS/907229983 Archived 2012-10-02 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Q & A with Screenwriters Karen McCullah Lutz & Kirsten "Kiwi" Smith - Zamm.com | My Movies". www.zamm.com. Archived from the original on 2021-10-23. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
- ^ "Is The Ugly Truth the worst romantic comedy ever made?". www.avclub.com. Archived from the original on 2021-10-28. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
- ^ "Adam Carolla Podcast - 2009.10.26 - Adam, Lucas Foster, Michael Irby | Adam Carolla's Show". Archived from the original on 2011-04-15. Retrieved 2017-04-11.
- ^ Auburn Journal. "Foresthill Bridge shot spans scenic moment for new film". Archived from the original on 2010-03-03. Retrieved 2010-08-21.
- ^ Box Office Mojo Chart 2009 weekend 30 Archived 2018-07-03 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "The Ugly Truth". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on October 21, 2021. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
- ^ "SATURDAY BOX OFFICE: Guinea Pigs Rule, Heigl's 'Ugly Truth' Makes Bank, 'Harry Potter 6' Fades Fast, 'Orphan' Opens". 26 July 2009. Archived from the original on 21 September 2019. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
- ^ Rollingstone
- ^ Webley, Kayla (May 26, 2010). "Top 10 Worst Chick Flicks - The Ugly Truth". Time. Archived from the original on March 28, 2012. Retrieved March 28, 2012.
- ^ Tobias, Scott (July 23, 2009). "The Ugly Truth". The A. V. Club. Archived from the original on June 5, 2020. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
- YouTube. Retrieved 2009-10-31.
- ^ Ebert, Roger (July 22, 2009). "The Ugly Truth movie review". RogerEbert.com. Archived from the original on September 24, 2020. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
- ^ McCann, Ruth (2009-07-24). "A Rom-Com So 'Ugly' It's Delightful". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2012-11-09. Retrieved 2009-10-31.
- ^ Nesvig, Kara (July 24, 2009). "Movie review: 'Ugly Truth' a smart, sexy comedy". Star Tribune. Archived from the original on June 5, 2020. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
