How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days

A deceitful courtship between a magazine writer (Kate Hudson) and an ad man (Matthew McConaughey): He doesn’t know she’s using him for an article on how to drive a man away, and she doesn’t know he’s made a bet that he can make any woman fall in love with him. Ladies, here’s a hint: You can lose a guy in a lot fewer than 10 days if you make him watch movies like this one. The script (by Kristen Buckley, Brian Regan and Burr Steers, from Michele Alexander and Jeannie Long’s book) is contrived to the point of absurdity, and Donald Petrie’s direction is often incoherent, as if he had (understandably) lost interest in these two unsympathetic characters. The climax is a ghastly, low-camp rendition of “You’re So Vain,” sung by Hudson and McConaughey to each other, while a befuddled Marvin Hamlisch looks on.