The Ugly Truth about Julie & Julia

Rating: 6/10 (30 August 2009)

The Ugly Truth about Julie & Julia The Ugly Truth, as Gerald Butler tells us in the movie of the same name is that nobody wants to f**k a woman who dresses for comfort and efficiency. This caveman wisdom, and other harsh realities of the dating scene, are the core of this enjoyable chick flick.
The obvious plot revolves around a gorgeous Katherine Heigl, who for some strange reason, is not gunning for the most handsome successful man she can land, except for her face in the lap (literally) of the sexy and hunky surgeon next door. Instead, she is intrigued and tormented by Butler's sophomoric Man Show TV personality. They inevitably get together in the end, but along the way, he manages to educate a smart, sexy and successful TV producer (Heigl) of his wisdom and foresight in all things related to man and women and dating. As if.
As if girls at age three don't already know that their looks are important. As if girls at thirteen don't already know that boys are excited more about having sex with them than they are about them. As if a smart, sexy and successful blonde would have any trouble getting the hunky surgeon next door interested in her.
With over 30 movies already to her credit, most notably Judd Apatow's Knocked Up with Seth Rogan, actress Heigl seems poised to capture the American "sweetheart next-door" void so aptly filled by Meg Ryan and Sally Fields.
Scruffy Scot Butler (P.S. I Love You) also seems poised for larger roles, though the pair never generate the heat of classic on-screen pairings such as Tom Hanks and Ryan, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn.
Nowhere in this movie is the implicit sexual tension that roiled the black and white classics. We don't have passionate couples held apart by thin bed sheets. We don't have headstrong women swimming, perhaps naked, in the middle of the night with men. Instead, we are left with the pithy lines that count as humor these days: Heigl: My cat stepped on the remote. Butler: Well, be sure to thank your pussy for me.
This movie is a mindless, but entertaining, dumbing down of what women need to do to catch and hold man's basic desires.
In stark contrast to The Ugly Truth are the roles portrayed by both sexes in Nora Ephron's Julie & Julia. Ephron writes romantic comedies, such as You've Got Mail, Sleepless in Seattle, and When Harry Met Sally.
In yet another awesome performance by the incredible Meryl Streep (and Amy Adams, both in the wonderful Doubt), we see not just how intelligent, charming and beguiling real, full grown, adult women can be, but also how strong, sensitive, and supportive their real life husbands are. The movie builds from the real life insights of Julie Powell (http://blogs.salon.com/0001399/2002/08/25.html).
The Ugly Truth shows that to catch a guy's fancy, women need to be sharp, sexy and a bit coy. Julie & Julia shows that to have an honest-to-god real relationship with an honest-to-god real man, women need to be kind, intelligent, thoughtful, honest and open.
Don't have a relationship yet? Then by all means, go see The Ugly Truth. It is a funny, entertaining date flick. Already got a relationship? One where somebody does the cooking, or has ambitions? Then go see Julie & Julia. The first is a fantasy where gorgeous blonds can't get the attention of hunky doctors. The second is two true stories welded together with honesty, compassion, influences of the outside world and true honest-to-god commitments.