Have you seen the new Katherine Heigl film 'The Ugly Truth'? It's soft easy watching but distinctly unoriginal. 'He's Not That Into You' anyone? The ideas are the same. Men are so superficial and simple, want what they can't have and only think with one thing... but deep down they do believe in love and can be tamed. The reason they put on the shallow façade is because they're scared of commitment or have been hurt before yada yada yada...
The Ugly Truth is funny, a film for the girls or for couples. Comparing it to 'He's Not That Into You' is maybe slightly unfair as the getting together of Katherine Heigl's character Abby and Gerard Butler's character Mike seems to make more sense than the weird getting together of the couple in 'He's Not That Into You'. I mean lets face it, when some girl goes to complete bunny boiler status taking control of your party is any man going to be interested in ending up with her?! No way! I thought the idea of that film was to show that if girls acted like that they would end up with nothing but the main character ending up with the man she wanted defeated the whole purpose of the story. Anyway, back to The Ugly Truth and how Katherine Heigl is the new Jennifer Aniston...
The Ugly Truth is definitely not an epic comedy, which is where I think we can relate Katherine to Jennifer. The two of them were (or still are in Katherine's case) part of successful tv sitcoms and have made it on to the big screen becoming arguably more successful than their sitcom colleagues. The problem with both of them is that they play pretty much the same character in every film. I guess Hugh Grant has made an entire career out of it but when each of the films they act in feel like they're part of the same story things start to get a bit mundane. That initial 3 star rating goes down to a 2.5 the next one gets a 2 and I am at a stage where I can't watch a Jennifer Aniston film any more as they drive me mad! When my wife used to mention these films I would agree to go with her to see them, now when I hear the name Jennifer Aniston I tell her that's definitely one to watch with her friends! I hope Katherine doesn't go the same way. The plus side is that Gerard Butler plays his cheeky rogue character very well and it's a 3 star film worth watching but anyone that tells you that you'll be falling off your seat laughing must have been watching a different movie.
I'm sure there will be plenty of girls who say I'm talking a load of rubbish and guys asking why I've bothered to even watch and write about this type of film but hey everyone's entitled to their own opinion. The Taking of Pelham 123... now that's a completely different story - 5* - a superb film, with great comedy, great action, great actors and one of the best films I have seen this year. Have I redeemed myself yet guys? ;-)
Gareth