Matthew McConaughey continues to search for his career-booster in "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days," a sometimes sappy but mostly funny romance comedy that also stars Kate Hudson.

"How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" has a great concept for a romance comedy: it may actually appeal to both sexes. Though the surprisingly vast majority of the audience was women, the thing that works best for "10 Days" is that its subject matter, while not deviating from the normal course of romantic comedies too much, is almost aimed more at men than at women. After all, it is about a handsome advertising executive that takes a bet to make a woman love him in ten days, but who ends up going out with a beautiful young journalist who has been ordered to write an article on - yes, you guessed it - how to lose a guy in 10 days. So, comedy ensues as Kate Hudson's character does everything that men hate about women, such as invading his bathroom space with feminine products, interfering with "boy's night," talking with his mom behind his back, and making him miss the last minute of an NBA Finals game so he can get her a drink. The jokes are primarily made at men, yet it is a romantic comedy. It's every studio executive's dream, right?

Well, almost. The central 70 minutes of the film is very entertaining as we watch in sequence the different stages of their relationship, as McConaughey tries arduously to win his bet, despite the fact that this woman, who is otherwise the perfect match for him, drives him up the wall. As one of the few guys in a sold out audience, I laughed along with everyone else, although not quite as much; nonetheless, many of the jokes, though perhaps a little exaggerated, were pretty true. Furthermore, the chemistry between McConaughey and Hudson is top notch.

The downside to "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" is its devotion at times to how to lose a guy's attention in 10 seconds. The first fifteen minutes of the film, as the characters are introduced and so forth, is horribly boring and not very well done at all. As the opening credits rolled, with cheesy little mock-ups that looked the introduction to a television sitcom, I was afraid that I was in for a long and painful process. Once Hudson and McConaughey meet, though, the movie picks up immediately. Then there's the ending. Like millions of other romance comedies, this one features a formal gala where the guy gets to ogle at the girl in a beautiful dress. Then, something bad happens (the truth comes out, of course) and they go their separate ways, but the guy realizes that it doesn't matter so he goes chasing her through the streets of New York. Cliché, cliché, cliché, and it's not even very well written. As smart as the central core of the film is, the ending is pretty damn stupid.

"How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" is an entertaining and funny romance comedy that even the guys will like overall, but never quite achieves the level of consistency that I was hoping for.

Review by Erik Samdahl unless otherwise indicated.