The Ugly Truth 2009

Christopher Orr, The New Republic: I think it's safe to say that the concerns about sexism in cinema that Heigl voiced so ardently after her career-making turn in Knocked Up have ebbed in direct proportion to the increases in her subsequent paychecks. Read more

Ben Mankiewicz, At the Movies: The Ugly Truth has a nice moment here and there, but there is much more ugliness than truth. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: Aside from being relational science-fiction, The Ugly Truth feels about 150 years out of date -- or it would, if the script weren't so clinically dependent on the topics of masturbation and genitalia and raunch. Read more

James Rocchi, MSN Movies: If you like things that are predictable, I can predict you'll love "The Ugly Truth," a new romantic comedy starring Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler. I sincerely doubt anyone else will respond to its labored scenes and smutty, tittering, unfunny jokes. Read more

Joanne Kaufman, Wall Street Journal: The Ugly Truth wants to have it both ways, reveling in a misogyny it claims to deplore. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: A blandly raunchy star vehicle that does its stars few favors. Read more

Scott Tobias, AV Club: Heigl and Butler have real chemistry together, but The Ugly Truth is the sort of rom-com apparatus that no relationship can overcome. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: The Ugly Truth? That's half right. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: The people responsible for The Ugly Truth were also responsible for Legally Blonde. That must have been a once-in-a-lifetime thing since this new movie is only half as entertaining as the other one. Read more

Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle: The ugly truth about The Ugly Truth is the fact that -- funny though it is -- it could have been a whole lot funnier. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: With its set 'em up, knock 'em down series of cliches, The Ugly Truth marks off the romantic comedy checklist. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: The Ugly Truth isn't fizzy and fun -- it's vacuously snappy. Read more

Christy Lemire, Associated Press: Butler's regular-guyness makes the character more likable than he should be; but Heigl, for all her screen presence, looks great but seems stiff, as if she's uncomfortable with the wilder physical comedy of the character. Read more

Amy Nicholson, I.E. Weekly: "Beats the @%$# out of me," says Butler when asked why he secretly loves her. Us too, but it's grating to when every scene is about her being wrong and him being right Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: Say no to Hollywood hackery and cynical, demographic-courting filmmaking. Say no to movies made by people who condescend and treat you like bleating sheep. Say no to The Ugly Truth. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: The film's central romance flips and flops like a dying fish. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: Do I really have to go through it? Can't we all just rewatch Woman of the Year instead? Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: Ugly is, indeed, the word for any comedy that manages to insult both its cast and audience with nearly every scene. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: Romantic comedies are an increasingly debased genre, but few recent Hollywood products have been anywhere near as crass and contrived as The Ugly Truth. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: Butler has a funny way with a line and a natural comic virility, something Heigl's previous leads lacked. But they don't click as a couple, perhaps because they're kept apart by a wordy script overloaded with blue banter. Read more

Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: Here's hoping that this unfunny comedy doesn't set both sexes back by 50 years. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Hollywood, it seems, has lost the knack of how to make a good romantic comedy. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler are so pleasant in The Ugly Truth that it's a shame to spoil their party. But toil and try as they do, the comedy bogs down in relentless predictability and the puzzling overuse of naughty words. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Toss this ugly crap to the curb, along with the other multiplex garbage, and see a romance that gets it right. I'm talking (500) Days of Summer. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com: Until that final, inevitable kiss, we have to listen to them, and the clatter of their crude, brainless exchanges is unbearable. Read more

Kara Nesvig, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Despite the fact that it swims in a veritable ocean of romantic comedy cliches, The Ugly Truth should manage to captivate and charm men and women alike. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Slow and odorous, The Ugly Truth is mired in phoniness up to its neck. And above that, there's nothing. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: Contrived as a crossover between a female-friendly romantic comedy and a male-targeted, anti-political correctness jab, The Ugly Truth veers between crude and cloying. Read more

Jason Anderson, Toronto Star: Opposites attract, but you'll really wish they hadn't by the time The Ugly Truth is through. Read more

Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine: In its wan attempt to be raunchy, the picture fails where Judd Apatow has usually succeeded; written by three women, this is a girl's mistaken idea of an R-rated comedy. Read more

Anna Smith, Time Out: We're left with a few giggles and the option to be offended by the gender stereotypes - if we can be bothered. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: The film is so predictable that it might as well have been written as a test classroom exercise in RomCom 101. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Variety: It's an odd, far-fetched twist on the Pygmalion story, with the modern angle of poking holes in political correctness, one that might have been made marginally convincing by a dollop of backstory or psychology. Read more

Ruth McCann, Washington Post: Under the direction of Robert Luketic, The Ugly Truth is pleasingly glossy, refreshingly snarky and startlingly sexy. Read more