The Ugly Truth

Release Date: July 24th, 2009

Click here for The Ugly Truth Trailer.

Abby Richter (Katherine Heigl) is a romantically challenged morning show producer for a local television station. When the morning show she produces begins to lose viewers, and fast, Abby is forced to find new ways of exciting the crowd. When she is unable to come up with any good ideas, her boss Stuart(Nick Searcy) hires Mike Chadway(Gerard Butler), the host of a raunchy late night local access t.v. show called The Ugly Truth. On his show, Mike offers relationship advice to men and women in the most perverse, and sometimes truthful, way. Abby, having called Mike's show the previous night to call him out, is furious and shocked when she sees Mike walk into the studio for his new segment on the morning show also called The Ugly Truth.

Abby and Mike butt heads from the very start when Mike discontinues reading from his monitor and goes over to give relationship advice to the hosts of the morning show Larry(John Michael Higgins) and Georgia(Cheryl Hines), a married couple who are having serious relationship woes. Abby is furious with Mike but when the ratings that come in the next day are through the roof, Abby realizes that she has to work with Mike or face losing her job. But Mike doesn't make it easy on Abby when he provides a scenario for all the men asking them if they'd rather go on a romantic, candlelit dinner or watch two hot women wrestling in a pool full of jell-o. Abby sees an oppurtunity and goes with it, telling Mike to further the debauchery by licking the jell-o off of one of the girls fingers. The two get into an argument over the stunt and Mike proposes a challenge to Abby. Abby begins bragging to Mike about Colin(Eric Winter) her new neighbor who is young, attractive and a doctor. When Abby was in a tree outside of her house getting her cat, she saw Colin getting out of the shower and began spying on him. But when the tree branch she was on snapped, she fell and got got hanging upside down. Colin rushed out to help her and took her back to his apartment to treat her ankle.

Mike bets Abby that he can get Colin to fall for Abby if she goes by his advice. If Colin does fall for Abby Mike gets to do things his way and if Colin doesn't, Mike will quit. Abby agrees and to her surprise, Mike's techniques begin to work. eventually Colin does fall for Abby and they begin dating steadily, at which point Mike realizes his true feelings for Abby. When the two go to Hollywood so Mike can appear on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, they share an evening that brings them closer than either of them expected. After they furiously make out in a n elevator Abby breaks off and goes to her room. She hears a knock at the door and excitedly answers it expecting it to be Mike. But instead, Abby finds Colin, who surprises her. Mike works up the courage to go back to Abby's room and finds Colin answering the door. Mike gets angry and leaves before turning in his resignation with Abby's station and returning to his old show. Abby realizes her true feelings for Mike and tells Colin that she hasn't been herself and that she has been acting the way Mike told her to. She breaks it off with Colin and returns to work to find Mike gone.

However, the two are soon reunited when both of them are attending the same hot air balloon festival to cover it. Abby is running the new The Ugly Truth host while Mike sits and watches it from his t.v. van. When the new guy fails, Abby steps in to salvage what is left and goes on a rant about Mike. Mike can't take it and goes to where Abby is filming and begins to rant about her. The two get into the balloon which takes off with them on board. Abby and Mike start to argue while secretly being filmed by an on-board t.v. camera. Mike tells Abby he loves her and after a long debate she realizes what he said. Mike rejoins Abby's station and continues his role as host of The Ugly Truth.

This movie is set to appear as a typical romantic comedy but in turn focuses more on raunchy humor than romantic appeal. Gerard Butler is your typical womanizing, chauvinist, male dominant guy. His character "tells it like it is" from the male standpoint on woman, sex, and relationships. Butler isn't known for being the comedian in his films. However, he definitley shows his funny side in The Ugly Truth. Butler was by far the funniest character of the movie. While Katherine Heigl is known for her comedic work in movies like Knocked Up, The Ringer and 27 Dresses Gerard Butler is better recognized for his roles in movies such as The Phantom of the Opera, P.S. I Love You and 300. Yet Butler definitley takes the center comedic stage in this film. I think the best part about his comedy was that he wasn't afraid to say anything and that his timing was perfect.

This movie talked about topics and scenarios that you wouldn't typically expect. Some of the items covered, either on the morning news show or in conversations between characters, actually made me go "whoa!" and be taken aback sometimes. Nothing was out of bounds for director Robert Luketic. Luketic continually pushes the envelope with every scene sometimes resulting in huge laughs. Butler's character is definitley the hook for male audience members. Butler says everything most guys are thinking but are too afraid to say, making him a sort of hero/role model for men everywhere.

Heigl adds the sex appeal as well as her own unique comedy to the movie. Heigl's character is somewhat ditsy and is also a total control freak. She carriers around a list of the the 10 qualities she looks for in a guy and checks off all the ones that he meets. She even goes as far as to do a full background check and to print out the personal files of the people she meets online dating. It adds the neurotic sense to her character that makes her funny to watch, not to mention the fact that Butler and Heigl played well off each other, especially with their timing.

The movie isn't the funniest thing I have seen and sometimes the jokes can get old or offensive. I am really happy that the director steered more towards the comedy side as opposed to the romantic side. This movie is one that a girlfriend is going to drag her boyfriend too thinking it is a romantic-comedy chick flick but the guy is going to find it more relates to him than her. Although there weren't many, the supporting cast of the film was good. Cheryl Hines and John Michael Higgins were both pretty funny and Eric Winters added the anchor of realism and calmness that kept the movie somewhat balanced. If you are a fan of Katherine Heigl or Gerard Butler or you need a quick laugh to fill out your weekend, then The Ugly Truth is a good choice. I give The Ugly Truth 7 Hotties wrestling in Jell-O out of 10

Yes Man

Release Date: December 19th, 2008

Click here for the Yes Man Trailer.

Carl Allen(Jim Carrey) is a Los Angeles bank employee who takes no pleasure in life after his wife Stephanie(Molly Sims) divorced him three years ago. Carl says no to every oppurtunity that comes his way, blocking out his friends and everything around him. Carl would rather spend his time alone in his apartment watching movies than to be out enjoying life. Carl's best friend Peter(Bradley Cooper) is furious when Carl misses his engagement dinner. He tells Carl that if he doesn't change his ways he is going to wind up sad and alone for the rest of his life.

While Carl is sitting outside of the bank that he works at eating lunch, he bumps into an old colleague of his, Nick(John Michael Higgins), who is stunned that Carl is still working at the bank. Nick tells Carl about him joining this program that has given him a new outlook on life. Nick now embraces life and lives it to the fullest from doing one simple thing, saying yes to life's opportunities. Nick invites Carl to the seminar which he reluctantly agrees to attend. At the seminar, Carl is singled out by Nick as being a new attendee. The seminar spokesman, Terrence Bundley(Terence Stamp) approaches Carl after Carl says "no" to coming up on stage. Bundley then forces Carl to make a covenant with himself, promising that he will say "yes" to every oppurtunity life throws at him. Carl's first chance at saying yes happens as soon as he leaves when a homeless man asks Carl for a ride. Carl agrees to driving him as well as letting him use his cell phone, in which the homeless man runs down the battery. The man then asks Carl for some money, and Carl agrees. Carl's "yes" attitude seems to paying off in a negative way when his car runs out of gas and he can't call AAA for help.

Carl walks to a gas station where he meets Allison(Zooey Deschanel), a quirky woman filling up her scooter. Allison gives Carl an adventurous and terrifying ride back to his car where she kisses him and drives away. Carl's life is starting to turn around from saying yes. He accepts a flyer from a band promoter who he continually says no to. When he goes to the concert, the band, an weird, eccentric band performs with the lead singer being Allison. The two meet again at the show and become attracted to each other and begin to date. Carl is suddenly saying yes to everything life throws at him, making him give out over 500 small loans at the bank he works at, take flying lessons, guitar lessons, Korean lessons, making him join an Iranian mail-order bride service, plan the bridal shower of Lucy Burns(Sasha Alexander) Peter's fiance, and going to a Harry Potter themed party at his lovable but clueless boss Norman's(Rhys Darby) house.

But things suddenly take a turn for the worse. Carl and Allison decide to go to the airport and take a trip on the first plane out of town, which takes them to Lincoln, Nebraska where they go to the Frank H. Woods Telephone Museum, go to a Nebraska College football game, and go skeet shooting. The two take refuge in a barn when it starts raining and Allison asks Carl to move in with her. Carl hesitantly says yes, which worries Allison, but the two get over it. When the two try to book a flight home, they are apprehended by F.B.I. agents who, because of the activities Carl has recently started, think he is a terrorist. Peter, being a lawyer, flies down to Nebraska to explain to the agents that Carl must say yes to every oppurtunity he comes across, which explains his somewhat strange behavior. Allison hears this and believes that the only reason Carl is with her is because he has to say yes. Allison, after being released from the agents, leaves Carl at the airport.

Carl then goes to Terrence Bundley's seminar and hides in the back of his car. Carl wants him to break the "covenant", allowing Carl to say no. Carl pops out of Bundley's back seat and startles him, making him run a red light and crashing, landing both of them in the hospital. When Carl wakes up, Bundley tells him that the "covenant" was bogus, it was just used to get Carl on the idea of saying yes, allowing Carl to say no if he needs to. Carl finds Allison and explains everything to her, telling her he really doesn't want to move in with her just yet, but that he really does care about her.

Jim Carrey is one of the biggest comedic geniuses in the film industry. He brings a crazy eccentricity to his movies that is so fast paced that it almost leaves you tired watching him. Carrey has proven that he can do serious roles like his films Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Truman Show and The Number 23 but his true genius is in comedy, and he definitley delivers in Yes Man. This movie is reminiscent of Carrey's film Liar Liar where he is forced to tell the truth for 24 hours whereas in this movie he has to say yes to everything.

Carrey brings his trademark energy to this film. The whole movie is go go go from the very beginning. This movie was good and I really enjoyed it. I am already a huge fan of Jim Carrey and this is another movie that is going on my favorites list. first of all, the premise of the movie is what first draws you in. A man who says no to everything and then suddenly has to say yes makes for an interesting twist of fate. Not to mention that Carrey, being as funny as he is, is also supported by funny cast members. Zooey Deschanel adds her own little quaint quirkiness to the film and her and Carrey have great chemistry together. A real show stealer for me was the character of Carrey's boss Norman, played by Rhys Darby. Everything about him was funny. His accent, his clueless demeanor, and his genuinely friendly and nice attitude. He is the type of guy that wants to be everybody's friend and just wants you to like him. But the true comedy lies with Carrey. This is definitley one of his better works.

I do not think this movie will as funny to you the first time you watch it. Like a lot of Carrey's movies, they appear to get better and better each time you watch them, as was the case for me with Fun With Dick and Jane. But Carrey dose his best to provide laughs throughout the whole movie. Carrey is a very physical actor and it shows in Yes Man. He is like the man with the golden touch, but instead of making everything he touches turn to gold, he makes it funny. This movie is classic Jim Carrey. It has high energy, big laughs, a great cast, and a lovable story that keeps you hooked. I give Yes Man 8 Harry Potter Themed Parties out of 10.