How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003) Review

Title: How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days
Year: 2003
Director: Donald Petrie
Country: US
Language: English

Romantic comedies hit a high note in the 1930's, peaking with It Happened One Night (1934) and Bringing Up Baby (1938). The genre lost favour with post-war (1945+) audiences and didn't become mainstrean commercial hits again until the 80's with When Harry Met Sally (1989). These pictures stayed strong until the 2000's when a string of box office bombs, combined with the rise of superhero films, made the genre Hollywood poison. 

Benjamin Barry (Matthew McConaughey) is an advertising executive aho, to win a big campaign, bets that he can make a woman fall in love with him in 10 days. Andie Anderson (Kate Husdon) makes a bet with her boss that she can lose a guy in ten days. Berry and Andie meet not knowing of each others' hidden agendas. 

How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days has an intriguing concept, but its execution is poor. Rom Coms, like Sleepless in Seattle, work because the characters are relatable & down to earth. Their worlds feel "lived in" (Tom Hanks has a life beyond talking to Meg Ryan)  and they look like an every-person in terms of fashion, transportation etc. Both our main characters are intolerable dishonest jerks who we struggle to empathize with. The characters' world feels hollow & without much depth. 

Loosely inspired by Michele Alexander and Jeannie Long’s 1998 self-help book with the same name, How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days is mired in regressive tropes about dating that were cringe back in 2003 & even more dated decades later. I saw it in the theatre when I was 12 & I felt really bad for women who wanted to see themselves in Hudson's character. 

I must admit that there are some genuinely funny moments in the film, but they are overshadowed by the more tedious groan-inducing moments. The miniscule amount of charm in How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days does not make up for the difficulty of sitting through its runtime.