Light hearted chick flick

Rating: 7/10 (5 May 2003)

I found this light-hearted romp reminiscent of situational comedies but Shakespeare or Oscar Wilde, although it lacked the depth of, say, My Best Friend's Wedding. But as a Saturday night low-brainer you could do a lot worse. Gorgeous bubbly blonde women's magazine writer gets off with successful advertising hunk. That's the slightly cheesy ending, but you've been entertained thoroughly by the time it gets to the predictable bit, so why not just gulp down the standard fruit-and-ice-cream finale as you move on to the nightclub after the cinema or whatever you're doing next. The bubbly blonde is Kate Hudson (from Almost Famous) and the hunk is Matthew McConaughey (from Wedding Planner). Watching her friend and colleague lose every date by doing all the wrong things, she offers to help out by writing a column on all the wrong things to do when dating a guy - things guaranteed to put him off. McConaughey, meanwhile, is pitching for a lucrative deal with a diamonds firm and boasts he can advertise anything, just like he can make 'any woman fall in love with him'. They call his bluff and offer him the contract if he can make any woman fall in love with him by the time of the presentation (his competitors subtly nudging him towards Hudson, who they know is writing the 'How to Get Dumped' article. The two devote themselves to each other for purely financial reasons but (surprise, surprise lol) fall in love anyway. A tight script for the most part and lots of great chemistry between the lead stars make for a fun film.