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How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days

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How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDonald Petrie
Screenplay by
Based on
How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
by
  • Michele Alexander
  • Jeannie Long
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyJohn Bailey
Edited byDebra Neil-Fisher
Music byDavid Newman
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • February 7, 2003 (2003-02-07) (United States)
  • April 17, 2003 (2003-04-17) (Germany)
Running time
116 minutes[1]
Countries
LanguageEnglish
Budget$50 million
Box office$177.5 million[3]

How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days is a 2003 romantic comedy film directed by Donald Petrie, from a script by Kristen Buckley, Brian Regan, and Burr Steers, and starring Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey. Loosely based on the picture book of the same name by Michele Alexander and Jeannie Long, the plot concerns a women's magazine writer and an advertising executive who both begin a relationship with ulterior motives. While the story and characters in the film are original, the dating "don'ts" of the picture book are included in the film.

How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days was released theatrically in the United States on February 7, 2003, and was a box office success, grossing over $177.5 million against a production budget of $50 million. Despite this, the film garnered mixed reviews from critics, who praised Hudson and McConaughey's acting and chemistry, but criticized the script and predictable plot.

Plot

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Andie Anderson is a writer for the women's magazine Composure as the subject-matter expert for a series of "How to" articles. She is bored and wishes to write about more serious topics. Andie's friend Michelle experiences yet another breakup and becomes despondent, saying she is not attractive enough. Andie argues that the problem is instead her needy, excessively emotional behavior with men, and is inspired to write an article, "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days". To prove her point, she will begin dating a man and, by imitating Michelle's behavior, provoke him to dump her within 10 days.

Advertising executive Benjamin Barry is looking to branch out from his usual remit of beer and sports campaigns by leading a prestigious ad campaign for a diamond company. At a bar, Ben's boss, Phillip, questions whether Ben has enough insight into the romance typically associated with diamonds. In response, Ben wagers he can make any woman fall in love with him. Phillip says that if he can achieve this before the company ball in 10 days, he will allow Ben to lead the diamond campaign. Ben's rivals, Judy Spears and Judy Green, were at the Composure magazine offices earlier in the day and know about Andie's project. Seeing Andie at the bar, they suggest her as the woman he romance and he agrees.

Ben goes and talks to Andie and they start their relationship, neither revealing their true intentions. She works hard to get him to first fall for and then break up with her, while he sticks to his task. Andie makes Ben miss the final shot at a Knicks game by sending him to get her a soda, gets him punched in a movie theater by talking loudly while watching a film, moves very girly things into his apartment, gets him a fern plant to represent their love and a Chinese Crested Dog, and takes him to a Celine Dion concert instead of another Knicks game like he expected. But she also occasionally lets her normal side show, which Ben begins falling for.

Moving on, Andie behaves outrageously at Ben's boys' poker night and drives him to break up with her. However, Ben's friends Tony and Thayer push him to stay the course by proposing couple's therapy with Andie, so he chases after her and she reluctantly agrees. Andie has Michelle pose as a therapist and together they criticize Ben, who counters by offering to introduce Andie to his family in Staten Island that weekend. When they visit, Andie finds she likes his family, and she is moved when his mother hugs her and asks her not to break Ben's heart. Ben and Andie begin to form a genuine bond.

Andie and Ben go to the company ball together. After Phillip talks with Andie, he tells Ben that he "met her, she loves you, you win". To sabotage Ben, Judy and Judy tell Tony and Thayer that Andie knew about the bet all along and was playing along to help him win. Tony and Thayer ask Andie to keep quiet, unwittingly making her aware of the bet. Simultaneously, Andie's boss, Lana, who is unaware of Ben's role, tells him about Andie's article. Having learned of Ben's bet, Andie attempts to humiliate Ben in front of everyone at the party, but he responds in kind and the pair argue on stage and break up.

Tony shows Andie's subsequent article to Ben, in which she writes how she "lost the only guy I've ever fallen for". When he goes to see her, he discovers she quit her job at Composure (because Lana again refused to let her write about serious topics) and is on her way to Washington, D.C., for a job interview. He chases her taxi and gets her to stop. After he says he has read her article and accuses her of running away, they reveal their true feelings for each other and kiss.

Cast

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Production

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Gwyneth Paltrow and director Mike Newell were originally attached to the project but producer Lynda Obst was unable to get Newell to commit to a date and Paltrow went on to work on the film View from the Top.[4][5]

The yellow gown Kate Hudson wore in the movie was created by Carolina Herrera with the film’s costume designer. The necklace she wears with the yellow gown is called, in the film, the "Isadora Diamond", named after Isadora Duncan. The 80-carat yellow diamond in the necklace was designed by Harry Winston and is worth $6 million.[6]

The apartment interiors were conceived by Yeadon-born sculptor Zoë Waterman, who said she thought the characters should live in "spaces which I consider to be dream spaces. That is to say their apartments are as close as I've seen on screen to my dream apartment. I just said to myself 'where would I absolutely love to live in my wildest dreams?', and the whole design came together in about fifteen minutes."

Soundtrack

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How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days: Music From the Motion Picture
Soundtrack album by
Various Artists
ReleasedJanuary 28, 2003 (2003-01-28)
GenreRock, Pop, Folk, World & Country, Stage & Screen
Length42:00
LabelVirgin Records

How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days: Music From the Motion Picture was released on January 28, 2003, by Virgin Records.

How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days: Music From the Motion Picture

  1. "Somebody Like You" – Keith Urban (3:51)
  2. "Good Day" – Luce (4:06)
  3. "Feels Like Home" – Chantal Kreviazuk (4:41)
  4. "Who Do You Love?" – George Thorogood and The Destroyers (4:21)
  5. "Let's Stay Together" – Al Green (3:15)
  6. "Follow You Down" – Gin Blossoms (4:29)
  7. "You're So Vain" – Carly Simon (4:18)
  8. "Kiss Me" – Sixpence None the Richer (3:19)
  9. "L-O-V-E" – Fisher (2:37)
  10. "Catch Me If You Can" – The Beu Sisters (3:35)
  11. "Weight of the World" – Chantal Kreviazuk (3:34)

Reception

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Critical response

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On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 42% based on 150 reviews, with an average rating of 5.1/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson are charming together, but they can't overcome How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days' silly premise and predictable script."[7] Metacritic gave the film a weighted average score of 45 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[8] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale.[9]

Box office

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The film was released on February 7, 2003, and earned $23.8 million in its first weekend. Its final gross is $105.8 million in the United States and Canada, and $71.7 million internationally (excluding Canada), for a worldwide gross of $177.5 million.[3]

As of December 2003, the video sold 3,79 million copies earning a profit of over 67.2 million dollars.[10]

References

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  1. ^ "How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days". bbfc.co.uk. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  2. ^ a b "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003)". American Film Institute. Archived from the original on January 5, 2019. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
  3. ^ a b "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days". Box Office Mojo. 2003. Archived from the original on 2017-11-10. Retrieved 2011-01-11.
  4. ^ EW Staff (February 7, 2003). "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on August 2, 2021. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
  5. ^ https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2023/02/how-to-lose-a-guy-in-10-days-oral-history
  6. ^ Malkin, Marc S.; Schoeneman, Deborah (February 6, 2003). "Model Home Gets a Makeover". New York. Archived from the original on June 2, 2021. Retrieved May 29, 2021.
  7. ^ "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on 2020-07-04. Retrieved 2024-08-28.
  8. ^ "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 2015-02-17. Retrieved 2011-01-11.
  9. ^ "Home". Cinemascore.
  10. ^ "Year End 2003 Top-selling titles (combined VHS and DVD)". variety.com. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
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