"With McConaughey and Husdon, You Can't 'Lose'"
by Scott Mantz

"How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days"
Matthew McConaughey, Kate Hudson
Directed by Donald Petrie

Place your bets! Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson play the dating game in "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days"

It's amazing how certain movies come along at just the right time. Take the new romantic comedy "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days," which not only has the dubious distinction of arriving in theaters just in time for Valentine's Day, but also happens to be a movie that I could totally relate to. Here's why...

Last week, I went out on a blind date with this woman named...oh, let's just call her "Marla." Without even talking on the phone (you gotta love email), we agreed to meet at Houston's restaurant in Century City. I got there early and was hanging out at the bar, when, all of a sudden, every red-blooded male turned around to check out the stunning beauty who just walked in the door. For a minute, I thought, "Nah, that can't be her," but when she walked over to say hello, I thought, "Wow, there is a God!"

Needless to say, we hit it off--so much, in fact, that I missed an advanced screening of "Kangaroo Jack" to spend more time with her (and, trust me, if you had to choose between a beautiful woman and a talking kangaroo, you would have done the same thing). We stayed until closing time and continued to talk in her car for a couple more hours (with Carly Simon blasting on her radio), and I couldn't help but think that this was the best first date I had in a really long time.

Then reality set in. When we talked on the phone over the next few days, it was obvious that she wanted to take things really fast. After just one date, she was already planning out the next few months of my life--inviting me to her cousin's wedding, talking about taking road trips, and telling me how much she wanted to have kids (a major no-no after just one date!). Now if there's anything I've learned after years of dating in Los Angeles, it's to trust your instincts, and even though I thought that Marla was very sweet, my instincts were telling me to run the other way.

Then I heard about "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days," and judging by its premise, it sounded like a movie that Marla should see. In the film, Kate Hudson plays Andie Anderson, a columnist for a popular fashion magazine who is writing a story about all the crazy things that women do to drive men away. In order to research her piece, she decides to find a guy and do all the wrong things to get him to dump her in 10 days. Her target is Benjamin Barry (Matthew McConaughey), an arrogant ad exec who unknowingly made a bet that he can make Andie fall in love with him in 10 days. With Andie and Benjamin secretly working both sides of the same coin, complications ensue when they really do fall in love.

I can't remember the last time I saw a film that not only hit the bulls-eye with regards to the "don'ts" of dating in the 21st Century, but did so in a way that both men and women will be able to relate to it. Between going too fast, telling your mate "I want you to respect me," leaving lots of phone messages, singing Carly Simon (geez, there's that name again!), bringing your belongings over to your mate's place, it's all here. The result is a cute, vibrant and irresistible date flick that will leave everyone pointing to the screen and saying, "Omigod, that's me!"

That's why it's too bad that the film falls apart about midway through. Already about 20 minutes longer than it needs to be, the film starts out with something to say, but ends up forgetting what it was. The jokes are funny enough for at least the first half, but when Andie and Benjamin really fall in love, the movie slows to a crawl until it ends with a predictable, cliched payoff that you can see coming from a mile away.

Having said that, Kate Hudson is simply adorable, and she and Matthew McConaughey have amazing chemistry together. Totally charming and having a ball with a role that showcases her comic timing, there's no doubt that Hudson is clearly her mother's daughter (that would be Goldie Hawn). It's also safe to say that if her breakthrough in 2000's "Almost Famous" made her an "it-girl," then her irresistible performance in "How to Lose a Guy..." will surely make her a star.

McConaughey has been on a roll with a slew of range-testing performances over the last year, including his creepy turn in the thriller "Frailty," his introspective turn in the excellent ensemble piece "13 Conversations About One Thing," and his over-the-top turn in the sci-fi extravaganza "Reign of Fire." With "How to Lose a Guy...," McConaughey channels his effortless charm from "The Wedding Planner," and he's perfectly suited as Hudson's unassuming target.

It wouldn't be giving much away to say that everything works out in the movie, but in real life, it was a different story. I really liked Marla a lot, and I was hoping that she would get the hint so we could take things slow and natural. Judging by the inappropriate conversation she initiated later that night, it was obvious that it wasn't going to happen. I felt bad, but since I didn't want to waste any more of her time (or mine), I had to call it off. So, with that, Marla was out, and for the record, she didn't lose her guy in 10 days. She lost him in 7.

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