Romancefest 2016: How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days

Now let's move on to something that's not quite as nice and fun as the last one, but still has about as much star power -- Donald Petrie's 2003 HOW TO LOSE A GUY IN 10 DAYS, starring Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey.

First thing's first: they make a good couple and it's no wonder they ended up in at least one more movie together after this one. It's a shame they haven't been in a super-good movie together, yet.

That's not to say HOW TO LOSE A GUY sucks or anything. It has a good premise, good leads, good supporting characters, but I feel like it's just a little too mean maybe? Or, how do I explain it. Not mean enough? The premise lends itself well to a real slash and burn of relationships. But the movie never really goes there, because it's also trying to be a typical rom-com.

I've mentioned the premise but haven't explained it -- Hudson works for a magazine like Cosmo and pitches a story about what NOT to do in a relationship -- aka, "How to lose a guy in 10 days." Meanwhile, McConaughey is an ad man who wants to snag a sweet account but enters into a bet that in order to do so he has to prove that he can make a woman of his competitors' choosing fall in love with him.

So, Hudson and McConaughey end up together, with Hudson deliberately trying to drive McConaughey away and McConaughey deliberately putting up with everything in an attempt to win her over. As you can see, this could be the perfect set up to really exploit stereotypical gender and relationship stuff, but it doesn't quite take off as much as I wanted it to.

There's still plenty of cringe inducing scenes in which Hudson plays the clingy girlfriend, which must have been fun for Hudson and shows her comic chops on full display. And, the two leads do have good chemistry. We've also got Adam Goldberg as McConaughey's buddy and Bebe Neuwirth as Hudson's boss, so they're fun, too.

Still, it might have been nice to see these two really destroy each other. Maybe next time.