How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days is the definition of a romantic comedy, facing the ups and downs of a “make-believe” relationship. The classic movie, starring Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey, centers on Andie Anderson (Hudson), a how-to columnist for Composure magazine, who strikes a deal with her boss to write a piece about dating and dumping the same guy in 10 days. Meanwhile, Benjamin Barry (McConaughey), an ad executive, bets his boss that he can make any woman fall in love with him in that same time frame.

Andie wants to branch out from her “How-to” articles to speaking her opinions about politics, so her boss gives her the story How To Lose a Guy In 10 Days, giving Andie the hope that she will be able to  write about politics if she can execute her story well. At the same time, Ben’s co-workers give him a challenge to see if he can make a girl fall in love with him in 10 days. Judy Spears (played by Michael Michele) and Judy Green (played by Shalom Harlow), Ben’s co-workers, know about Andie’s goal, so they send Ben to Andie with the hope that he would fail.

At the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in November of 2022, Olivia Rodrigo performed Carly Simon’s song “You’re So Vain” which was featured in the movie.  After that performance, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days started trending. I completely correlated “You’re So Vain” with How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. Andie put the song on the record player during one of her first dates singing “They’d be Ben’s partner, They’d be Ben’s partner,” creating a parody of the original song, “They’d be your partner, they’d be your partner.” Scrolling on my TikTok For You Page, every person who has posted a video to the song has mentioned the movie.

The scenes that include “You’re So Vain” are arguably the best scenes in the movie. At the end of the movie, when Ben and Andie learned their true intentions, they fought on stage in front of everyone at the company party, singing along to the song, which was the absolute highlight of the movie. 

Back in 2003 when the movie first came out, many said it was terrible and had an unrealistic plot. In my opinion, the unrealistic plot pulled the movie together. For many, movies are a way to escape from reality, so why spend time watching something that is completely real? An unrealistic plot provides more entertainment making the entire movie brilliant as it was all pulled together as it went on. 

To me, this movie is one of a kind. The idea that Andie had to drive Ben away was extremely funny and entertaining to watch, not to mention the fact thatMcConaughey and Hudson brought this story together with their chemistry. I would absolutely consider this movie a throwback that fits in with other romantic comedies that are not made like this anymore.

How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days shows an authentic relationship formed through a competition, but if it was made today, there would’ve been more technology which would’ve damaged the genuineness of how they fell in love.

One of my favorite moments in the movie happened when Andie insisted on an iced Diet Coke seconds before the winning point at the Knicks game. Andie’s ability to drive Ben absolutely insane was hilarious to watch. 

Another favorite scene occurred when Andie crashed Ben’s “boys night,”  essentially humiliating him in front of all of his friends.  Let’s just say telling your boyfriend that he needs to blow his nose, and then holding a tissue up to his face, might make him a little upset. 

One of the more heart-warming moments was when Ben and Andie traveled through Manhattan to visit his family — per a fake couples therapist request. This is when they really did start to love each other, making it a key plot point in the movie.

How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days is one of the best romantic comedies because it shows the fun, but real, emotions shared between two people.  The story is predictable and unrealistic, but it is nothing more than what it is intended to be — a fun story that gives the audience some laughs using witty humor — especially watching the love story unravel while Andie attempts to drive Ben away. 

This movie is a top 5 pick for me, and I give it a 4 out of 5 stars. Turns out that, as Andie says, “All’s fair in love and war.”