Review: The Ugly Truth Is So Just Another Rom-Com

Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler star in a not-that-raunchy chick flick that we liked better when it was called When Harry Met Sally

Review in a Hurry: Watching oafish Gerard Butler and ice queen Katherine Heigl fall for each other in this too predictable (and not that raunchy) rom-com is like eating a bowl of cereal with water. It'll fill you up, but doesn't quite taste right.

The Bigger Picture: As morning TV show producer Abby Richter, Heigl is an all-rules, no-fun neurotic looking for her unattainable Prince Charming. Basically the same character Meg Ryan perfected in 1989's When Harry Met Sally. Unfortunately, Heigl has only a quarter of Ryan's charm, and none of Sally's pithy banter.

So when shock jock Mike Chadway (Butler) gets hired to boost ratings at Abby's morning show, she inevitably finds herself mixed up in every predictable stage of the rom-com formula—and can't break out of it:

Stage 1: Girl meets boy. Girl hates boy. Girl ignores boy's swoon-worthy good looks because boy is detestable. In this case, director Robert Luketic (Legally Blonde) does an impeccable job of masking the otherwise insanely hot Butler with the misogynistic ramblings of an apish man-child.

Stage 2: Boy convinces girl she needs to loosen up—both sexually and through a makeover which leaves girl (who is gorgeous to begin with) with newscaster hair and a romp in a restaurant while wearing vibrating underwear. (Again, while the tingling trouser scene is one of the movie's highlights, Heigl's public orgasm doesn't inspire anyone to want to "have what she's having.")

Stage 3: Girl falls for other boy—in this case Colin (Eric Winter), who on paper has all 10 of Abby's desires for the perfect man—while original boy gets jealous.

Stages 4, 5, 6: Yadda, yadda, yadda and suddenly you're back in your living room and have completely forgotten the movie you just watched.

As rom-coms go, this isn't the weakest you'll see this year or month, and the unusual R rating allows it to slip into moments of refreshing edginess. But those fleeting seconds are few and far between and seem almost out of place.

The 180—a Second Opinion: As an onscreen duo, Heigl and Butler lack chemistry. But is watching them for an hour and a half better than sitting in front of a fan praying for winter? Yes.