Hot on the tails of He's Just Not That Into You and (500) Days of Summer, Robert Luketic's The Ugly Truth tries to bring a romance comedy that both genders can enjoy. Is it really a romance comedy? I'd classify it more as a comedy with a focus on romance. In any case, Abby (Katherine Heigl) plays an uptight control-freak producer of a TV show when Mike (Gerard Butler) stirs up her once-perfect world. So what's the ugly truth behind the pretty bland plotline? Let's dive in for a closer look.

As I've said before, I like a romance comedy when it's unique and brings more to the table than a generic and predictable plot. Going into the movie I thought The Ugly Truth would be another one of those movies. Take the pretty, successful woman with a troubled love life. Add a rough-around-the-edges guy. Mix. Woman becomes more wild, guy becomes more sterile. The end. Luckily, The Ugly Truth (while adhering somewhat to those stereotypes) brings more to the table, and for that I appreciate it.

The language use and innuendo used throughout the movie is up there with Knocked Up or Superbad at times, so keep that in mind going into it. This is one movie that I wouldn't be as irked if the MPAA gave it an R rating just for language, because it gets pretty crude. That said, I found it very funny and a overall good movie. Butler and Heigl have good chemistry together and I found the eventual "hookup" of the two decently believable. I could have done without some of the little side stories (like Mike's nephew who needed a father figure bringing more sensitivity to Mike's character). I think I would have preferred if they'd kept Mike rough throughout and the Hell of it is that Abby still found herself attracted... Because that's the way love is sometimes.

As far as acting goes, everyone does well. The plot, though somewhat predictable, detoured enough from the typical path that I was satisfied. The laughs were genuine and didn't feel contrived at any point. Overall, it was a good comedy with romantic focus and I think one that both genders can appreciate. The ugly truth of it all is that I liked it! I'd even recommend seeing it in a theatre to get the full effect of the energy of a good crowd.