Project-Blu The Ugly Truth, by M. Enois Duarte

The Ugly Truth

By: M. Enois Duarte, 11.22.2009

The Movie Itself:
'The Ugly Truth' does something most all romantic comedies tend to stay away from. This very predictable love story can at times be crude, raunchy, coarse, and vulgar. Many of the interactions between the characters make shocking references to each other's privates and the lack of attention given to them. If the entire course of the picture was to parade around with f-bombs and a whole list of other naughty words that would normally win us a bar of soap in our mouths, then why couldn't someone just outright call primary character Mike Chadway (Gerard Butler) the donkey's behind. After all, that's exactly what he is, in all his machismo and sexism which gets flaunted as entertaining insights into the male psyche.

One day, Mike's public access show called "The Ugly Truth" gets picked-up by a local station for the Sacramento morning news. The program hasn't been doing well in the ratings department, so the station's manager forces the show's producer Abby Richter (Katherine Heigl) to give Mike a short segment each morning. For some undisclosed reason, the manager believes Mike's crass and boorish appreciation of the battle of the sexes will make their sinking hour watchable once again. But the only insightful thing about any of this, however, is the sad fact that such a risky move would probably succeed at captivating an American audience. As we would expect from such a movie, Abby doesn't think very highly of Mike, and vice versa.

Funnily enough, the rough language and Mike's chauvinism are not what's wrong with 'The Ugly Truth'. Indeed, it's rather refreshing and amusing for a film of this genre, making it much funnier than I would've expected. Butler is completely hilarious in his role, and his frankness about the way men see and think of women are brutally and fearlessly honest. Not all men view women exactly as he does, but there are some unfortunate truths to his words. Heigl is equally enjoyable to watch as the station's producer who borders on OCD. Her character's high-power attitude makes her excellent at her job but disturbingly creepy on dates. When the anticipated moment of her self-discovery finally arrives, Heigl gives it a nice, heart-warming touch.

The problem we encounter with the film is in how unfortunate this refreshing approach has been structured within a very conventional and humdrum script. Although the set-up allows for plenty of comical situations, Abby's interest in her physician neighbor is foreseeable within minutes and creates very little tension between the two leads. Then we have the obligatory make-over montage to prove women shouldn't have to bend over backwards to impress a man. Since Abby is a sexually-repressed workaholic, we also need one scene of public humiliation involving mechanical panties and a dopey little boy fooling around with the remote. And just to show Mike isn't all bad, he plays a father-figure role in his nephew's life.

Sure, this little romcom is funny, entertaining, and most likely will not disappoint anyone looking for an easy time at the movies. But it does chug along customary genre practices to achieve the inevitable "ah, they were made for each other after all" conclusion. Only, who'd a thunk tap water could bring two complete opposites together in the end.
Rating: 6/10

The Presentation:
'The Ugly Truth' debuts with a good and satisfying video presentation, tailored-made for a heart-warming romantic comedy. The freshly-minted AVC-encoded transfer, presented in its original 2.40:1 aspect ratio, shows a robust, full-bodied color palette and nicely saturated primaries. Contrast is spot-on with crisp whites, allowing for a great deal of clarity and visibility of background info. Although not the most detailed release we've seen, the picture still comes with fairy sharp and resilient fine object and textural details throughout. Flesh tones are rendered with a healthy, natural complexion. Delineation within the shadows is strong and clearly discernible. Blacks are accurate and superbly rich, giving the image a convincing depth of field. The hi-def picture on this Blu-ray perfectly preserves the intended photography, giving fans a wonderful and appreciable cinematic quality to enjoy at home.
Rating: 8.4/10

The DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack is a bit more impressive than the video, delivering exactly what is expected from a flick of this genre and then some. Dialogue reproduction is superb and well-centered in the middle of the screen while the rest of the soundstage is spacious and warmly inviting. Dynamic range is sharp, imaging is convincing, and bass response adds heavy depth to the musical tracks. The score and song choices are the real highlights of lossless presentation, filling the three front channels nicely and occupying the rear soundscape with brilliant presence and control. There are no consistent discrete effects per se, but the sound design does allow for some compelling atmospherics which keep the audience engaged. This may not be the next showstopper, but the track gets the job done better than expected, and it does it splendidly well.
Rating: 8.6/10

Overall Presentation: 8/10

** 9 - 10 = Reference / 8 = Excellent / 7 = Good /
6 = Satisfactory / 5 = Average / 4 & under = Below Average **

The Extras:
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment debuts 'The Ugly Truth' with a nice collection of supplemental material. The package comes with a Digital Copy of the movie, the disc is BD-Live Enabled, which introduces a new feature called movieIQ, and the special features are mostly presented in high definition.

Audio Commentary with director Robert Luketic and producer Gary Lucchesi
The Truth is Ugly: Capturing the Male & Female Point of View (HD, 13 min)
The Art of Laughter: A Making of Hilarious Proportions (HD, 16 min)
Six Deleted Scenes (HD, 17 min)
Two Alternate Endings (HD, 5 min)
Gag Reel (HD, 10 min)

Rating: 5/10

Final Thoughts:
Lewd, crude, and vulgar make for different type of romantic comedy in 'The Ugly Truth'. While entertaining and amusing with good performances by the cast, the movie is ultimately hindered by a conventional and predictable script. The Blu-ray arrives with a very strong A/V presentation and nice collection of supplements. Overall, 'The Ugly Truth' is an enjoyable date movie that looks and sounds great on Blu-ray.
Rating: 6/10