Gerard Butler Scores Laughs in Second Trailer for ‘The Ugly Truth’

Posted by Neil Miller (neil@filmschoolrejects.com) on April 10, 2009

It is likely that many of you only associate actor Gerard Butler with his role as King Leonidas in Zack Snyder’s 300, a performance that was as much about yelling and lifting weights between takes as it was about real acting talent. And its unfortunate, because the guy really can act. He can play the serious brooding leading man, as he did in 2004’s Dear Frankie, and go full-on theatrical, belting out the songs of Andrew Lloyd Webber in The Phantom of the Opera. Unlike may typical action stars, Butler has range. He’s a dynamic and charismatic actor who seems to have a lot of fun doing what he does.

And speaking of fun, those of you who took in Guy Ritchie’s RocknRolla last year know that Butler can bring the comedic beats — which is good, as he appears to be the comedic centerpiece of 21 and Legally Blonde director Robert Luketic’s The Ugly Truth. The film follows the story of Abby (Katherine Heigl), a romantically challenged morning show producer who unwittingly becomes the pawn in the advice game of her chauvinistic dating correspondent Mike (Butler). Mike uses Abby’s relationship struggles to test his theories about love and what men really want. From what I can see in the first trailer and the one you’re about to see below, the film looks like fun. Katherine Heigl has proven in the past (Knocked Up) that she can play well in this particular character mold and Gerard Butler, as I explained previously, is a funny guy, so this may just work. Not to mention the fact that this film was co-written by Karen McCullah Lutz, whose previous credits include Legally Blonde and The House Bunny, both of which delivered laughs in a relatively inspired sort of way.

The Ugly Truth will hit theaters on July 24, 2009. Check out the second theatrical trailer below, courtesy of MySpace.

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