The Ugly Truth vs The Awful Truth

Both of these are titles of romantic comedies. One of these is a timeless treasure and the other one isn't. Guess which is which...

The Awful Truth stars Cary Grant and Irene Dunne, directed by Leo McCarey. It was made in 1937 and is in black and white. No one works, everyone is rich and the wardrobe is sometimes as entertaining as the dialog-- the shoulders on one white mink coat are almost as tall as Irene's head. This is a boy has girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back formula. It was considered somewhat racy for it's time. The subject matter was infidelity. The movie opens up with Carey Grant trying to get a tan so he can go home after a week "in Florida" in an attempt to not be caught inflagranti. He returns to his house bearing a basket of oranges only to find his wife not at home. She shows up soon after walking the walk of shame still wearing the previous evening's evening wear, followed closely by her "music teacher." and they're off...

There is some slapstick-ish physical comedy- a first for Carey Grant, which made him so uncomfortable he begged more than once to be released from his contract. This film was such a hit and became a major career turn for Grant. Irene Dunne plays his charming, socialite wife, trying to get on post divorce all the while knowing that Carey's still the one for her and is willing to embarrass herself to get him back. And all the while being a lady.

The Ugly Truth is just that...ugly. It's a romantic comedy that relies entirely on raunchy humor for it's comedy and two stock characters for it's romance. She's the semi-virgin career woman waiting for the inner slut to unleashed. He's the anachronistic (please god!) chauvinist pig with whom she's forced to work in order to save her precious career and who volunteers to unleash her. Katherine Heigl is beautiful but still underused ("Knocked up" and "27 Dresses") and can pull off this role. Gerard (JERod sounds like Herod) Butler is also beautiful, must also have wanted to make a car payment, and can also pull off this role. But that's all you can expect from either of them.

Here is the first problem. In order for a romantic comedy to work, it's the viewer who must be romanced and amused. Neither character is fresh or charming so I don't care if they get together or not. And while I have been accused of being somewhat prudish (my older friends just did a spit take)...no one needs to hear that a man is only nice to a woman "because he wants to stick his dick in your ass."

I did laugh a few times, but mostly out of shock not due to any clever dialog. I tried to excuse this film by comparing it as "The Awful Truth" of today, but no, it doesn't wash. The only real comparison of these two films is the similarity of the titles. One deals with the awful realities of some marriages and the other is just truthfully ugly.

If you must see "The Ugly Truth"-rent it. It might be easier to watch in private. Better yet, rent "The Awful Truth" and just enjoy.