"Our love fern! You let it die!" "No, honey, it's just sleeping."

¨

Year: 2003

Directed by: Donald Petrie

Written by: Michele Alexander & Jeannie Long (book), Kristen Buckley, Brian Regan & Burr Steers (screenplay)

Andie is writing an article on how to lose a guy in ten days, meanwhile Ben has made a bet he'll make any woman fall in love with him in ten days. Then they meet each other...

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Last night I was suddenly in the mood for some romantic comedies. I'm tired of saying they are not my style, because I really like watching something this silly every once in a while. It's refreshing. I mostly wanted to watch something because my friend Petra was asking for sappy movies in Twitter, so I thought hey, why the hell not?

I like the idea that both characters are not 100 % into the relationship forming between them, but not for the usual reasons. Both are doing it for their job, but their goals are the opposite. And it's hilarious for the viewer to watch them struggling with what they got themselves into. Andie's driving Ben crazy, but Ben doesn't want to give up on the bet, so he tries to hold on to Andie, which frustrates her. The tension is amazing.

A lot of things in this film were pretty generic. The soundtrack is generic, so are the characters and the structure. But then again, in romantic comedies it's kind of good we can trust the structure to be similar. We don't watch romantic comedies to see an amazing art film, it's for fun and crying your eyes out if you need to. (This one didn't make that happen though.) The dialogue is also very generic, but! There was one specific piece of Dialogue I really enjoyed. It was when Andie and Ben first met.

Andie: Unattached?

Ben: Currently.

Andie: Likewise.

Ben: Surprising.

Andie: Psycho?

Ben: Rarely, Interested?

Andie: Perhaps.

Ben: Hungry?

Andie: Starving.

Ben: Leaving?

Andie: Now?

I love that dialogue! It's so simplified! And that's what makes it amusing. It's also a kind of smart way to show how they are testing the waters. Neither of them is actually looking for serious relationship. Andie is looking for a normal guy she can hook and then destroy. Ben is looking for someone he can make fall in love with him. So why use long sentences when just trying to check if the other one seems alright for the "mission"? 

But How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days is an amusing film. It's entertaining and kind of cute. It's predictable, sure, and the writing is not the best, yet even though it's surprisingly long, it doesn't frustrate you, at least during the first view.

☆☆☆☆☆☆

6 / 10