How To Lose A Guy In Ten Days

Reviewer: Alyice Edrich

Movie

Plot

A how-to article writer sets out to find out what it takes to lose a guy in ten days while an advertising agents embarks on a journey to find true love in order to save his job. When the two meet, it’s a complete battle of wits, err sexes.

Starring

Kate Hudson, Matthew McConaughey, Adam Goldberg, Kathryn Hahn, Shalom Harlow, Robert Klein, Thomas Lennon, James Murtaugh, Michael Michele, Bebe Neuwirth, Annie Parisse, Samantha Quan, Celia Weston, and more.

The Review

The story begins simple enough: Andie, a magazine’s how-to girl, agrees to write a story on how to lose a guy in ten days in order to save her co-worker the embarrassment of having her dating faux pas made public. On the other side of town, however, Ben, an advertising genius, discovers that his account is being stolen by a couple of co-workers and agrees to do whatever it takes to get his account back—even going so far as giving up his one-night stand, playboy ways to get one single girl to fall in love with him.

It’s when the two choose each other for their conquests that things begin to heat up. Andie does whatever it takes to make Ben’s life miserable—ruins something he loves, decorates his apartment with “girlie” things that claim ownership over him, decides to become a vegetarian on the same day he’s slaved over a gourmet lamb meal, has outrageous mood swings, calls his mother in order to make a “family photo album” of a life they don’t even have, and then makes a public display of their relationship during one of the most important night of his career.

All the while, Ben is doing whatever it takes to hold the relationship together. He sends her flowers, attends a concert when he’d rather be at the big game, takes her out for disgusting vegetarian food when he’d rather be home eating that lamb he slaved all day over, and instead of putting her down and making her feel bad about herself, he tries to understand her emotional ups and downs.

Then there are moments when he fights with the furniture to prevent himself from telling her how completely idiotic and crazy she sounds and moments when he vents to his guy friends in hopes of getting just the right amount of encouragement to stick it out another day—and because they know what’s at stake, they remind him of what’s most important. (It’s just too bad that it’s the account, and not Andie, that’s most important.)

Then there are moments when he finds himself in complete and utter awe of both her inner and her outer beauty—and it’s those moments when the two drop the masquerade and actually be themselves. And it’s those moments when they actually fall head over heels in love with each other—only they’re too busy working their schemes to notice!

In one misguided swoop from Ben’s coworkers and one gossipy editor later, however, everything comes crashing down around them and the relationship that was just beginning to come into its own is threatened with complete and utter annihilation.

Will the couple be able to forgive the parts each played in destroying the relationship—all for the sake of a career? Or will they turn their backs on each other and the love they never knew they wanted? That’s what you’ll have to watch the move to find out.

What I love about this film is the premise that love isn’t easy—true love, the kind that makes you want to be around a person every day and every night of your life, that kind of love takes work.

True love is about looking past the flaws and annoyances of the other person to see the underlying beauty. It’s about stepping outside of your comfort zone and going out of your way to make the other person feel special even—and especially—when you least want to do so. And most importantly, it’s about forgiveness. And if you pay close enough attention, those are the lessons you’re being taught as you watch How To Lose A Guy In Ten Days.

What I took away from this film, and what you’ll take away, is that no mater how you got to where you are in your relationship, it can only survive when you accept the fact that each of you is flawed. And sometimes those flaws could use a little compassion, a little understanding, and lots of forgiveness.

In order for relationships to survive, we’ve got to make time for each other, we’ve got to own our faults, and we’ve got to be willing to do whatever it takes to save the relationship—even if it means biting our tongues once in awhile or giving up something we love to do for something they love or offering a bit of praise when it’s most needed (no matter how unmacho it makes us look).

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