The 5th movie that I decided to watch this week is one of my favorite movies of all time and my absolute #1 favorite Romantic Comedy of All Time and yes that is saying a lot I know. Considering all of the movies I've seen including numerous amongst numerous romantic comedies that is quite the bold statement I know but its true, I absolutely love this movie and for so many reasons! Below is my full detailed review.
This film stars one of my favorite actors around Matthew McConaughey. He is by far the funniest character in this film and without him as the lead this film wouldn't have been that great. Kate Hudson is the main female lead in this film and although I'm not a big Kate Hudson fan I really enjoyed her in this movie. Other notable co-stars were Kathryn Hahn, Robert Klein, Thomas Lennon (Reno 911 & more recently A Guy Thing), and Adam Goldberg whom I loved from his episodes on Friends as the creepy roommate! Bebe Neuwirth also starred but was more annoying than enjoyable.
I thought the story for this film was very unique and original. A writer at a fashion and trend magazine writing an article on How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and a Sports Marketing agent who has placed a bet that he can make a women fall in love with him in 10 days. Now obviously you would need some very convincing actors for these roles and McConaughey and Hudson were great for this! Their 10 day relationship had all kinds of ups and downs and twists and turns and Hudson's character Andie really drug Ben through the ringer during this stint. I've included some of my favorite scenes below.
The first meeting between Andie and Benjamin (Ill call him Ben to shorten it up) made me think that this was exactly what McConaughey is like in real life. I loved the one word association when meeting Andie for the first time at the bar. It just seemed very realistic and authentic as did their crab leg dinner that followed. I just really felt like this is exactly what type of guy McConaughey is. Laid back and super cool. I think it took having an actor like him to pull this role off because I don't think there are many other actors in Hollywood who could have made it so convincing nor believable that someone could get a women to fall in love with them in 10 short days.
Each character has two friends in this film but really only Ben's are worth mentioning. There is Thayer played by Thomas Lennon. This guy is funnier and funnier to me the more I see him. His outlandish outfits with bow ties and his calm demeanor are quite comical. In one scene he wore a yellow sweater very similar to one Michael Jackson wore for a popular poster shot back in the 80's! His quote to Ben that he is a "vision in khaki" and "congrats little plaid family" had me rolling! My favorite friend however was Tony played by Adam Goldberg. This guy is a very funny actor and I really loved him in this film. During the same scene Thayer made those quotes above Tony muttered that Ben's shirt, a present from Andie, "looked like the inside of a raincoat". These guys were funny throughout and great in every scene they were in!
I loved the sports element of this film. Not sure I'm buying a Knicks/Kings NBA Finals but I still thought it was cool. I did however notice that there were 4 games played at Madison Square Garden within a 10 day time frame. Obviously basketball fans know this couldn't have taken place because even if the Knicks had home court advantage, which they would have had to have had to host 4 home games, it would not have been completed in a 10 day time period. Simple mathematics that is easily forgotten in a movie but for a sports fan like me it was quite noticeable. Staying on the sports topic let me say this. There is no way that any guy, any guy at all would have gone to get his girl a drink during the final minute of an NBA Finals basketball game. That scene was a little stretched for the imagination in my mind and very unrealistic.
I thought the scene at the Chickflick Marathon was funny when Andie got Ben punched in the face with her antics in the theater. It was also quite funny how she decorated his place with teddy bears and feminine products and one day even brought over a scrapbook filled with pics of their "future" family. Ben's expression during this scene was classic. It was also very funny Andie took Ben to a Celine Dion concert and they just so happened to exit while the NY Knicks fan were exiting their game. Andie disrupting the poker game was funny too and I read that a lot of clips in that scene were improvised to get real reactions from the guys, I could totally see that. Like I said previously I am not a huge fan of Kate Hudson's however I thought her little dance in Ben's apartment to the song "Your So Vain" was quite cute. One thing I noticed in this film was that Matthew McConaughey was once again cooking and looking quite comfortable doing so, again. I'm assuming he is a good cook in real life too. Just a guess.
I really thought the entire sequence at Ben's parents place in Staten Island was very sweet and endearing. Now granted his family partook in a game of Bull Shit but still this is where we can tell Andie was falling for Ben. Could it have been Ben's Duke University shirt he was wearing or the motorcycle ride with the Keith Urban song or the sweet encounter in the bathroom back at his parents place with Andie with the "feels like home" track playing that made this sequence so great? I say it was all of it. Easily my favorite scene was when they got on the motorcycle and the Keith Urban song "Somebody to Love" came on.
This film had a great conclusion and of course like most romantic comedies had the fairytale ending as well but not before some fireworks at the gala where both Ben and Andie found out what they did to each other. All in all this was a great film and for a comedy that ran almost 2 hours long there was never a dull moment which is rare. This film gets the highest rating possible, A+!
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