The Ugly Truth (Blu-ray) Official AVSForum Review

[Lee Weber]

The Review at a Glance: (max score: 5 )

Film:

Extras:

Audio/Video total rating:

( Max score: 100 )

89

Studio and Year: Columbia Pictures - 2009
MPAA Rating: R
Feature running time: 96 minutes
Genre: Comedy, Romance

Disc Format: BD-50
Encoding: AVC (MPEG-4)
Video Aspect: 2:40.1
Resolution: 1080p/24


Audio Format(s): English, French, Portuguese: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 English: Audio Commentary
Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish
Starring: Katherine Heigl, Gerard Butler, Bree Turner, Eric Winter, Cheryl Hines, John Michael Higgins
Directed by: Robert Luketic
Music by: Aaron Zigman
Written by: Nicole Eastman, Karen McCullah Lutz
Region Code: A

Blu-ray Disc release Date: November 10, 2009

"The truth isn't pretty"

Film Synopsis:

Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler star in this wildly funny battle of the sexes. Abby (Heigl), a successful morning show producer, is looking for a lot in a man. Mike (Butler), her obnoxious TV star, knows men only want one thing. Determined to prove that she's not romantically challenged, Abby takes Mike's advice during a promising new romance, but the unexpected results will stun everyone.

My Take:

Trial by fire (aka the wife forcing me) has made me quite the expert on romantic comedies. I am not ashamed to admit that the really good ones can grab you by making you laugh and tugging at your emotions. OK I am a BIG BABY! Shhhh...Unfortunately 'The Ugly Truth' didn't do much in the way of making me laugh and was a big zilch on the emotion level. I don't expect much in the way of reality in movies these days, but c'mon now, Katherine Heigel having a hard time getting a man?? A male chauvinist from a raunchy local access cable show getting a gig on the AM network news showing scantily clad woman Jell-O wrestling?? Neither of these worked for me. For the laughs they tried to be raunchy and it didn't work. Go all in or go home! They treaded the line between 'Superbad' humor and sweet, cute rom-com humor. If you are going to go for it, offend me, PLEASE! Plot-wise we are not boldly going where no rom-com has gone before, actually quite the opposite. It's the age old Man v. Woman story. They, of course, have completely different outlook's on relationships, and yep, you guessed it, one hates the other but they are forced to spend time together. Through the course of these events they 'finally' fall in love. Wow, who woulda thunk?? I won't say that the movie didn't 'try', as they attempted some character development with Gerard Butler's 'Mike Chadway'. Unfortunately it was not fully realized and is just enough to get us from point A to B. As far as Katherine Heigl's 'Abby Richter', all I know is she is a control freak TV Producer, seriously, after 90 minutes that's all! 'The Ugly Truth' here is that this is sub-par in its genre, passable yes, but quite forgettable.

Parental Guide:

Rated R for sexual content and language.

AUDIO/VIDEO - By The Numbers:
REFERENCE = 92-100 / EXCELLENT = 83-91 / GOOD = 74-82 / AVERAGE = 65-73 / BELOW AVERAGE = under 65

**My audio/video ratings are based upon a comparative made against other high definition media/blu-ray disc.**


(Each rating is worth 4 points with a max of 5 per category)

Audio: 92

• Dynamics:


• Low frequency extension:


• Surround Sound presentation:


• Clarity/Detail:


• Dialogue Reproduction:
  

Video: 86

(Each rating is worth 4 points with a max of 5 per category)

• Resolution/Clarity:


• Black level/Shadow detail:


• Color reproduction:


• Fleshtones:


• Compression:

The Ugly Truth comes to Blu-ray Disc from Sony featuring 1080p AVC encoded video that has an average bitrate of 28 mbps and lossless DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio sound that has an average bitrate of 3.5 mbps

This one is a bit of a conundrum to me. The video was pristine with amazing resolution and at times, a 3-Dish effect. From my seat there was no real film grain until I got up close which is perfectly acceptable. The blacks were inky and shadow detail was great...BUT the skin tones were really strange! They were a golden yellow at times and it stood out. The movie was rich and the colors popped but it felt like the color temp was a bit warm to me (I checked it on 2 systems). If the skin tones were natural this would have got a reference rating from me.

The DTS-HD track really shined. It was clean and clear and very inviting. Not a "what did they say" moment at all. When the soundtrack played a song I was impressed enough to wish all the music I listened to sounded this good. The bass response was smooth and tight, really adding a nice dimension to the music. The movie is like all romantic comedies as it is dialogue driven. You know how it is...all talk talk talk, then a segue-way scene of a cityscape, overhead of a car ride or the lead crying her eyes out- all to a loud song. Thankfully for 'The Ugly Truth' it did all of that brilliantly.

Bonus Features:

• (HD) Commentary with Director Robert Luketic and Producer Gary Lucchesi


• (HD) The Truth Is Ugly: Capturing the Male & Female Point of View


• (HD) The Art of Laughter: A Making of Hilarious Proportions


• (HD) Deleted and Extended Scenes


• (HD) Alternate Endings


• (HD) Gag Reel


• movieIQ


• Digital Copy

Final Thoughts:

Sony has given us another really nice Blu-ray release here. A decent amount of extras are included, (the alternate endings were not used for good reason) and the audio quality is top notch. The video was almost a slam dunk but the skin looked off to me. I cant recommend this as I would never watch it again. C'mon now...go for it, jump in, don't test the waters...'The Ugly Truth' has an identity crisis and it paid the price. It held back on the raunchy humor that worked for it at times and instead it was clichéd and lackluster with nothing new or engaging to offer.













Lee Weber
AVS Forum Blu-ray Reviews





Reference Review System:


JVC DLA-RS20 1080p High Definition Front Projector
Prismasonic HE1500R Anamorphic Lens
Custom 1.3 Gain 128" 2.37:1 CinemaScope Screen
Pioneer SC07 Receiver
Pioneer BDP-320 Blu-ray Player (HDMI Audio/Video)
Triangle Zerius Speakers (7.1)
SVS PC13-Ultra Subwoofer

[aydu]

I picked this one up for the wife as a rental. We both thought it was very weak. You could see the end from the opening scenes of the movie. Just had to have the patience to sit through the film to actually get there.

I had the same issue with the video on this transfer. Something just did not seem right with the skin tones. As this was a character based "comedy" there were a lot of facial shots in various lighing situations. Those in less that full out bright light looked orange.

Maybe it was the poor writing or the lack of origionality in the plot, but I just found this tedious to watch. Katherine Heigl is beautiful and seemed to try very hard to make this film work. Gerard Butler didn't do much, other than collect a paycheck.

I think the writers intended to put some really cleaver, funny dialog in the film, but don't seem to be either cleaver or funny. As usual, they resorted to profanity instead.

Rent only if you must. This would make an excellent holiday gift for somebody that you need to buy a present for, but can't stand. At least you'll get the satisfaction that the recipient will lose a good hour and a half of their life on this piece of drivel.

[Bronco70]

Sorry you had to sit through this one.

But hey, your pain, our gain.

Joe

[Lee Weber]

Originally Posted by Bronco70

Sorry you had to sit through this one.

But hey, your pain, our gain.

Joe

I would have been forced to watch it at some point regardless.

[GoCaboNow]

This was R rated? I would have gotten ambushed on this one.

[Dave Vaughn]

There were some pretty funny moments, although it was extremely predictable. Granted, to watch Katherine in HD for 90 minutes is a plus

Regarding the lighting...it was very warm and golden in a lot of scenes.

[Georgeb]

Watching Heigl's reactions to her vibrating panties during that dining out scene was worth the price of the rental. Predictable, yeah, but aren't all romantic comedies.

[Dave Vaughn]

Originally Posted by Georgeb

Watching Heigl's reactions to her vibrating panties during that dining out scene was worth the price of the rental. Predictable, yeah, but aren't all romantic comedies.

That was a good scene. What about when the tree branch broke

[Bronco70]

Maybe this is worth a rental. Vibrating......

Joe

[blacksapphire08]

I got it on DVD instead and it looked horrible even for a DVD. I'm surprised the blu ray was as good as you say.

[JamE55]

Originally Posted by Georgeb

Watching Heigl's reactions to her vibrating panties during that dining out scene was worth the price of the rental. Predictable, yeah, but aren't all romantic comedies.

Originally Posted by Dave Vaughn

That was a good scene. What about when the tree branch broke

Both scenes were funny but yeah predictable. Nonetheless i thought it was an ok movie.

Cheers

[Dave Vaughn]

Originally Posted by blacksapphire08

I got it on DVD instead and it looked horrible even for a DVD. I'm surprised the blu ray was as good as you say.

How did it look on VHS? How is one relevant to the next?

[JamE55]

Originally Posted by Dave Vaughn

How did it look on VHS? How is one relevant to the next?

lol.. Oh Dave.

[Dave Vaughn]

Sorry...I couldn't help myself

[crunchyice]

Okay, I know it was predictable and lagged in some areas, but my husband and I thought it was a great prelude to heating up the evening for some red hot monogamy...and both laughed our tails off at the (done before) vibrator dinner scene and I agree with Dave and George...the branch scene was funny. Katherine and Gerard definately had on-screen chemistry that made the film kind of hot. There are commercials on television more vulgar.

I agree the underlying message that there are no happy couples in marriage and woman either have to dumb down and fit the physical cutter or die lonely is ridiculous ...but let's face it, men generally fit the mold (sorry guys).

I don't watch R rated romantic comedies for their wit, truth, and depth..come on ...if it was going to be about great script with great comedic depth and wit...it wouldn't need to be R rated...hmmm...maybe I'm wrong, but the "ugly truth" is..I liked it.

[Dave Vaughn]

I love the line when Gerard says for the women to throw away the "self-help relationship books" and spend more time on the StairMaster. My wife and I laughed-out-loud during that entire exchange.

[Lee Weber]

Originally Posted by crunchyice

Okay, I know it was predictable and lagged in some areas, but my husband and I thought it was a great prelude to heating up the evening for some red hot monogamy

Are you sure it was the movie...not the wine?

[johnny15]

The wife and I went in not expecting too much and found it enjoyable because of this. Sure, it was predictable, but as others have said, what romantic comedies aren't....

Either way, I'd say it's worth a rental.

[jamespd]

Originally Posted by Lee Weber

Trial by fire (aka the wife forcing me) has made me quite the expert on romantic comedies.

Luckily my girlfriend watches the romcoms when I'm not around. I'm not against romance, or comedy in movies, but that specific genre doesn't do anything for me. And I don't need to see it in hd.

[Lee Weber]

Originally Posted by jamespd

Luckily my girlfriend watches the romcoms when I'm not around. I'm not against romance, or comedy in movies, but that specific genre doesn't do anything for me. And I don't need to see it in hd.

Every once and a while one of them can be surprisingly good. Plus If i watch her stuff she will watch my horror movies!

[aydu]

Originally Posted by crunchyice

Okay, I know it was predictable and lagged in some areas, but my husband and I thought it was a great prelude to heating up the evening for some red hot monogamy...and both laughed our tails off at the (done before) vibrator dinner scene and I agree with Dave and George...the branch scene was funny. Katherine and Gerard definately had on-screen chemistry that made the film kind of hot. There are commercials on television more vulgar.

I agree the underlying message that there are no happy couples in marriage and woman either have to dumb down and fit the physical cutter or die lonely is ridiculous ...but let's face it, men generally fit the mold (sorry guys).

I don't watch R rated romantic comedies for their wit, truth, and depth..come on ...if it was going to be about great script with great comedic depth and wit...it wouldn't need to be R rated...hmmm...maybe I'm wrong, but the "ugly truth" is..I liked it.

I just hope that part II of the evening was better than this film.