How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days: cute or cringe-worthy?

The 2003 romantic comedy, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, stars Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey. The film has recently received popularity on TikTok with Kate Hudson’s character singing a rendition of “You’re so Vain” by Carly Simon. Is this movie a must-watch this Valentine’s Day?

“How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days”

The film centers around magazine writer Andie Anderson who is played by Kate Hudson. Anderson is searching for a ground-breaking “how-to” topic for her next article. She works for Composure magazine,  which is a nod to Cosmopolitan magazine for women. Andie wishes she could write about more serious topics such as politics and world news but her editor will not allow her to unless she writes this “how-to” article first. Andie eventually lands on the topic of “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days,” an article explaining what not to do when pursuing a guy. Andie has a deadline of ten days to write the article.

Andie meets Ben Barry, played by Matthew McConaughey, in a bar and decides to pursue him for her article. Barry is an advertising executive looking to take on a big job for a diamond company. He convinces his boss that romance is associated with diamonds. He makes a bet with his boss that he can make any woman fall in love with him, and he has ten days to do so, or he will not be the lead for the project with the diamond company. The movie essentially follows Andie trying to make Ben hate her, and Ben trying to woo Andie. Both parties are pursuing each other on false pretenses but ultimately end up falling in love.

Thoughts

This movie is not like other romantic comedies. Andie does some things that can be deemed corny in the movie but she’s purposely acting that way. She acknowledges she’s acting corny as she’s trying to make Ben not fall in love with her. Obviously, everything works out for the couple in the end as it always does in romantic comedies. However, the actual storyline of this movie is gold. The comedic parts are actually funny because it satirizes relationship stereotypes. The romantic aspect of the movie is sweet when the audience finally sees Andie and Ben together as a real couple.

Kate Hudson really delivers in this film, especially when trying to make Ben dislike her. Her comedic timing is perfect and the audience feels Ben’s discomfort when she’s purposely being annoying. Matthew McConaughey perfectly counteracts Hudson’s performance by acting unphased by Andie’s shenanigans and constantly doing sweet gestures to woo her. The on-screen chemistry between Hudson and McConaughey genuinely convinces the audience of their compatibility and it’s perfect. The pair have worked in another movie as a couple, “Fool’s Gold”, as a result of this.

“How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days” is without a doubt a must-watch romantic comedy on Valentine’s Day. It shows the perfect imperfection that comes with relationships and doesn’t emphasize the damsel-in-distress trope that many romantic comedies have.