So Ben sets out to woo Andie and she him, only to make his life a living hell once she has him hooked. She does everything from trick him into going to a Celine Dion concert instead of a Knicks playoff game, to redecorating his slick apartment with revolting pink doodads, to even getting him a hideous dog and calling it their child. And yet, Benny-Boo-Boo, as she is often calls him, still keeps coming back for more. Sure he does, because he has to bring her to the DeLauer Diamond party to prove that she loves him so he can win the bet... or is that the real reason?
When their relationshipship is at the breaking point, with Andie thrilled because she'll finally be able to ditch this guy and write her article before deadline, Ben pulls out all the stops and asks Andie to attend couples' therapy. The "therapist," who is actually Andie's co-worker, Michelle (Kathryn Hahn), who gave her the idea for the article in the first place, suggests they go home to meet Ben's family and it's here that Andie and Ben truly start to fall for each other. Andie wants to scrap the article completely, but her editor won't have it. As Andie and Ben's worlds' collide at the DeLauer Diamond party and everything comes to a head, will this battle of the sexes cost them both the relationship they have always been waiting for?
I had forgotten just how funny this movie is and Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey are just magic together. But they don't do it alone, because the supporting cast is also wonderful, including the hysterical Kathryn Hahn (Step Brothers), Adam Goldberg and Thomas Lennon as Ben's co-workers and pals, Bebe Neuwirth as Andie's Anna Wintour-clone editor and even Ben's boss, Robert Klein, who is great in his role.
In simply scoring this movie on its own merits, I probably would have given it a 92% because its a great romantic comedy and one of those films that you could watch again and again and still laugh. However, this is How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days: Deluxe Edition, so the lowered score is more because of the repackaged version than anything else. Yes, with this Deluxe Edition, they added a few new featurettes including one on the making-of that is completely void of any interviews with Hudson or McConaughey. Huh? I don't know about you, but I'd want to hear what these two stars had to say about filming with each other, especially since they went on to film Fool's Gold together later on. I did enjoy the two authors of the book and their featurette on the single life. They were quite funny. The final new featurette addition was one on the battle of the sexes and it was a couple of experts talking about the subject - boring. I happen to have the original release of the movie on DVD, so I popped it in to verify what was new and old and much to my surprise, they omitted the older featurettes that included interviews with Hudson and McConaughey, among others, which was a real surprise. You could click on each actor's name and get a short interview and tidbits about them. All gone in this release. Why? It's nice that they included the deleted scenes like in the previous release, which were smartly deleted from the movie, but why omit this great content on what is supposed to be a Deluxe Edition?
If you already own the movie on DVD, do not buy How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days: Deluxe Edition as a replacement. The extra special features are novel, but aren't as fun as the original interviews. If you don't have the movie and can't find the older release, by all means this movie is absolutely worthy of being in your collection. It's terrific, I just wish they hadn't taken away great content and replaced it with mediocre content.
