The Ugly Truth

There is nothing revolutionary about The Ugly Truth. In fact, it could be called He’s Just Not That Into You 2, only it’s much better than its predecessor. Like most romantic comedies that take on a male point of view, The Ugly Truth features a careerwoman, Abby (Katherine Heigl), who’s having trouble finding a man who will accept her control-freak ways. Abby works as a producer for a Sacramento morning news show. Unfortunately, the ratings are down and the station must do something drastic or risk going off the air. So, Abby’s boss hires shock jock Mike (Gerard Butler), who is hopelessly jaded about love and “tells it like it is.” The two eventually join forces to fix Abby’s love life and, well, the rest is comic hijinx and predictability. But let’s face it; nobody really goes to romantic comedies for their suspense or mystery. So all is forgiven here. Heigl is simply glowing, and Butler is charming, even when he’s being a dog. And the predictable moments are overshadowed by funny ones (two words: vibrating panties). In all, The Ugly Truth is just as honest as He’s Just Not That Into You, but rather than making women seem desperate and crazy, it just makes them idealistic. Feather River Cinemas, Paradise Cinema 7 and Tinseltown. Rated R